Published in The Australian, 23 November 2016

Doctoral programs are adept at training future academics but ­appear less effective at equipping graduates with the skills they need to work in industry, new research confirms.

A survey of more than 3800 PhD graduates found that those working in industry reported lower levels of skill development in five key areas and placed less value on these skills compared with those working in academe.

Denise Jackson of Edith Cowan University and Grant ­Michelson of Macquarie University analysed the 2012 data from the Australian Graduate Survey and found “a disconnect” between how PhDs are trained and the careers in which they end up.

“Recent PhD-trained employees are clearly less prepared, in their minds, for careers outside higher education than they are for a career in the same sector in which they have been trained,” said Professor Michelson, who is head of the department of marketing and management at Macquarie.

Higher degree research training is seen by graduates as imparting skills desirable within academe, such as undertaking research, but less effective in providing skills demanded in industry, such as teamwork and people management, he said.
The study did not include professional doctorates or those such as the doctor of education or doctor of business administration that tended to be more applied in nature, he said.

The survey found more graduates were working in industry (43 per cent) than in higher education (41 per cent) and just under two-thirds reported they were working full time.

“The data is somewhat depressing to see that a third of graduates are either working part time (21 per cent) or not working at all (14 per cent) for whatever reason, which highlights a skills under-utilisation,” Professor Michelson said.

Other factors such as age and discipline area further influenced graduate perceptions of their PhD training.

“People who came into the program with some life experience were generally more prepared for work of any nature,” Professor Michelson said.

Graduates in arts, humanities, social sciences and education placed less value on the skills gained in their PhD training compared with those in architecture, health and science, the analysis found.

“The discipline differences tended to be around areas that were more embedded within ­professional practice, such as medical, health and science, as they often had to do internships as part of their training, compared to the more generic PhDs in, say, ­humanities or social sciences,” said Professor Michelson.

Universities have made ­progress in recent years developing “industry-styled PhDs” to better ensure graduates are work-ready for a variety of contexts, although the study showed “the sector still has some way to go”, he said.

Professor Michelson said one option was including industry leaders on PhD supervision panels as a way of bringing sector insight to the programs.

Chu Wang, who recently ­completed a PhD in marketing and management at Macquarie, said she acquired skills in critical thinking, technical skills and data collection through her research training, which she was using in her role as a data analyst in ­finance.

But other skill sets required by industry, such as stakeholder management and change ­management, were not part of her PhD training, she said.

“When you undertake ­academic research, you provide analysis and recommendations, but in industry you are also ­involved in the execution of the recommendations, ensuring they are actionable and determining which teams should be involved,” said Ms Wang, who has worked for a major bank since graduating in September.