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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
- Sprache: Englisch
How to Make Your PhD Work A modern guide for a challenging modern PhD market The job market for PhDs in science and engineering has become immensely more challenging in the last decade. As of 2022, less than 5% of PhDs attain permanent academic positions, yet books about navigating PhD programs continue to treat permanent academic employment as the assumed norm. Today's PhDs need tools not only for completing their programs successfully, but for positioning themselves in a varied and competitive job market. How to Make Your PhD Work meets this need, with concrete, empowering advice that takes account of modern job market challenges and opportunities. It cuts through widespread misconceptions about STEM careers and funding, offers tips for navigating difficult degree programs, and supplies current or prospective PhDs with the tools to radically transform their post-degree career prospects. How to Make Your PhD Work readers will also find: * Detailed discussion of topics including postdoctoral fellowships, nonacademic careers, success in industry, and more * Twelve stories from PhD students who talk about their relationship with their advisor, their success with their project, and their transition into their careers * Worksheets and case studies designed to help PhDs map out potential career paths * An author with extensive experience of the nonacademic job market and a real understanding of the challenges STEM PhDs face How to Make Your PhD Work is ideal for any STEM PhD student, prospective student, or early career researcher looking to improve their positions in the job market.
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Seitenzahl: 336
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
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Table of Contents
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication Page
Preface
Part I: You Are Here
1 The Twenty‐First Century PhD
1.1 A Realistic Perspective
1.2 The Current PhD Landscape Has Changed
1.3 The PhD Job Market is Vast
1.4 Conclusions
References
2 The Real PhD Career Landscape
2.1 Your Advisor Cannot Be Your Only Guide
2.2 PhDs in Nonacademic Careers
2.3 PhDs in Specific Careers
2.4 Self‐assessment and Research
2.5 Real PhD Career Transition Stories
2.6 Conclusion
References
3 The PhD Career Feedback Loop
3.1 Deciding Your Own Story
3.2 An Iterative Process
3.3 PhD Career Feedback Loop
3.4 Sense and Respond
3.5 Commit 100%
3.6 Conclusion
Reference
4 An Objective Assessment of Your PhD or Postdoc
4.1 Same Three Letters With Very Different Experiences
4.2 Taking the First Step
4.3 The PhD and Postdoc House
4.4 Advisor, Environment, and Project, in That Order
4.5 Afraid of What You Might Find?
4.6 Checking How Things Are Going
4.7 Factor #1: Your Advisor
4.8 Factor #2: Your Environment
4.9 Factor #3: Your Project
4.10 PhD and Postdoctoral Self‐Assessment Diagnostic Tests
4.11 Conclusion
Reference
Transition Story: Vineeta Sharma, PhD
Transition Story: Sreemoyee Acharya, PhD
Transition Story: Jesminara Khatun, PhD
Part II: Your Academic Path
5 Overcoming Academic Obstacles
5.1 Proactive Steps
5.2 Personal Leadership
5.3 The Importance of Your Advisor
5.4 Navigating Challenging Environments
5.5 Overcoming Challenging or Uninteresting Projects
5.6 Conclusion
Reference
6 A Purposeful Postdoc
6.1 The Transitional Postdoctoral Fellowship
6.2 Postdoc Unions and National Associations
6.3 Know Before You Go
6.4 Obtaining a Postdoc
6.5 Postdoc Interviews: What To Expect
6.6 Conclusion
References
7 Creating an Academic Plan
7.1 My Academic Experience
7.2 Energy Does Not Always Equal Results
7.3 Types of Institutions That Hire Academic Faculty Positions
7.4 Types of Academic Faculty Positions
7.5 Professor Promotional Ladder
7.6 Tenure Track
7.7 Deciding on a Research Focused Position
7.8 Deciding on a Teaching Focused Position
7.9 Comparing and Contrasting
7.10 Becoming Competitive for R1 Positions
7.11 Becoming Competitive for R1 Positions
7.12 Combined Research and Teaching
7.13 The Professor Application
7.14 Interview Process
7.15 Conclusions
References
Transition Story: Antonio Marzio, PhD
Transition Story: Ada Weinstock, PhD
Transition Story: John Ruppert, PhD
Part III: Your Nonacademic Path
8 Nonacademic Careers
8.1 What Careers Are Available for PhDs?
8.2 Visualizing Jobs on the Path of Discovery to Implementation
8.3 Publications
8.4 Commercialization and Technology Transfer
8.5 Startup Scaling
8.6 Venture Capital and Startup Growth
8.7 Mergers and Acquisitions Are a Main Form of Acquiring New Innovations
8.8 Industry Companies
8.9 Regulatory Agencies and Legal Services
8.10 Sales, Marketing, and Communications
8.11 Investment Banking and Equity Research
8.12 Conclusion
References
9 The Industry Mindset
9.1 Industry is Not Academics
9.2 Industry Lesson #1: Expendable
9.3 The Role of a PhD in Industry
9.4 Academics is Like a Business
9.5 The Main Difference Between Academics and Industry
9.6 Industry Lesson #2: Customer Relationships and Risk
9.7 Industry Lesson #3: Align Yourself With the Company
9.8 Conclusion
References
10 Choosing a Nonacademic Career
10.1 Dating Your Career
10.2 Getting to Know Yourself
10.3 Dating Some Careers
10.4 Putting Yourself Out There
10.5 Conclusion
References
11 Transitioning Out of Academics
11.1 How Do You Actually Convert Your PhD Into the Job You Want?
11.2 Ideal for Remote Work
11.3 Transferable Skills
11.4 Favorite Skills
11.5 Matching the Skills
11.6 Conclusion
References
12 The PhD Resume
12.1 Prepare for the PhD Career Early
12.2 Differences Between a Resume and CV
12.3 Begin With the End in Mind
12.4 Six Seconds of Resume Time
12.5 PhD Level Resume Template
12.6 Parts of the PhD Level Resume
12.7 Writing Bullet Points for Your Resume
12.8 Applying to Jobs Through Your Network
12.9 Conclusion
Reference
Transition Story: Leon “Jun” Tang, PhD
Transition Story: Elizabeth Agadi, PhD
Transition Story: Laura Zheng, PhD
Transition Story: Amar Parvate, PhD
Transition Story: Henry Cham, PhD
Transition Story: Giannis Gidaris, PhD
Part IV: Becoming the Proactive PhD
13 Leveraging Your PhD
13.1 Importance of Using Your Time Wisely
13.2 How To Optimize Your PhD Year‐By‐Year
13.3 PhD Defense
13.4 Worst Case Scenario
13.5 Layering Your Goals
13.6 Research Tips and Tricks
13.7 Preparing Your Career Early
13.8 Conclusion
References
14 The Future PhD
14.1 PhDs Are a Rare Breed
14.2 Increasing PhD Support
14.3 Increased Paid Resources for PhD Career Support
14.4 Impact of COVID‐19 and Artificial Intelligence
14.5 PhDs Are Perfect for This New Work World
14.6 Conclusion
References
Appendix
Diagnostics Test 1
Diagnostics Test 2
Diagnostics Test 3
Additional Resources
My Story
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Tables
Chapter 6
Table 6.1 The right and wrong reasons to pursue a postdoc.
Chapter 7
Table 7.1 PhDs can be hired in faculty positions in doctoral universities, M...
Table 7.2 Here are descriptions and some of the common requirements for jobs...
Chapter 11
Table 11.1 Using the industry jobs identified in Chapter 8, the transferable...
Chapter 13
Table 13.1 Example of proactive tips and tricks during an example five‐year ...
List of Illustrations
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1 Advisors might want to help you with your job search, but they of...
Figure 1.2 The number of doctorates granted in the United States since 1958 ...
Figure 1.3 The NIH average success rate in the late 1990s and early 2000s wa...
Figure 1.4 Since 1995, the NIH budget has grown from $10.8 billion to $40.9 ...
Figure 1.5 The percentage of PhDs who graduated in 2000 and 2021 were hired ...
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1 Advisors often lack the necessary resources and experiences to de...
Figure 2.2 Median annual salary of doctorate recipients with definite commit...
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1 Balancing your self‐assessment, feedback from your PhD diagnostic...
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1 Taking an objective look at your PhD or postdoc with the diagnost...
Figure 4.2 (a) The success of a PhD and postdoc depends on a strong foundati...
Figure 4.3 Your PhD or postdoc can be made up of a mixture of the right and ...
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1 By managing up with your own PhD experience, you can earn respect...
Figure 5.2 To work on the relationship with your advisor and become better a...
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1 The CV is made up of specific sections of information that descri...
Figure 7.2 The “chalk talk” is a key part of the on‐site interview process f...
Chapter 8
Figure 8.1 Congratulations on opening the door to your post PhD career plans...
Figure 8.2 This diagram shows the different sectors of the economy that a Ph...
Figure 8.3 Academic institutions hire PhDs in their commercialization and te...
Figure 8.4 There are three stages of a startup where the company moves from ...
Figure 8.5 This diagram shows the different departments of a company. At mul...
Chapter 9
Figure 9.1 PhDs do not have the same motivations or performance goals in aca...
Figure 9.2 Companies first start with capital from sources like individuals,...
Chapter 12
Figure 12.1 This is a template for a PhD level resume. This resume includes ...
Figure 12.2 After much research, planning, retooling your resume, and applyi...
Chapter 13
Figure 13.1 Beginning to take steps toward learning and exploring your PhD c...
Guide
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication Page
Preface
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
Appendix
Additional Resources
My Story
About the Author
Acknowledgments
Index
Wiley End User License Agreement
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How to Make Your PhD Work
A Guide for Creating a Career in Science and Engineering
Thomas R. Coughlin, PhD
Senior Director, Oncology Pharmaceutical Market Research and Strategy
Adjunct Professor of InnovationStevens Institute of Technology
Owner, PhDSource.com, NJ, USA
Copyright © 2024 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per‐copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750‐8400, fax (978) 750‐4470, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748‐6011, fax (201) 748‐6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permission.
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication DataNames: Coughlin, Thomas R., author.Title: How to make your PhD work: a guide for creating a career in science and engineering / Thomas R Coughlin.Description: Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley, [2024] | Includes index.Identifiers: LCCN 2023032188 (print) | LCCN 2023032189 (ebook) | ISBN 9781394193141 (paperback) | ISBN 9781394193158 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781394193165 (epub)Subjects: LCSH: Doctoral students–Vocational guidance. | Science–Vocational guidance. | Engineering–Vocational guidance.Classification: LCC LB2386 .C67 2024 (print) | LCC LB2386 (ebook) | DDC 378.2/023–dc23/eng/20230718LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023032188LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2023032189
Cover Design: WileyCover Image: © photoexpert117/Adobe Stock Photos
Dedication
As I interviewed more and more PhDs for this book, I learned that each one, like me, had to fight for their career. Nothing was handed to us on a silver platter. I listened to stories of absent advisors who abandoned PhDs to figure out how to do their own research. I heard other stories of advisors who lost their tenure amidst students’ PhD programs. There were even stories of advisors who wanted to fabricate data and put pressure on their PhDs to publish it.
Separately from the interviews, I also conducted the literature search for this book and discovered countless articles enumerating reasons why the PhD system is broken. The articles explained that the programs needed to be fixed, yet offered few implementable solutions and lacked any semblance of responsibility. Granted, the problem is complex. Articles and stories detailed institutional problems that claimed the PhD is a hoax. They said entire PhD programs are farces because they lead students into underpaid PhD positions in advisors’ labs where they are kept, for years, sometimes not making any progress in research and therefore stifling their careers.
But these experiences do not tell the whole story because the pure pursuit of research still exists within academia. The altruistic pursuit of the unknown has a silver lining somewhere. The pushing of oneself through low pay, uncertainty, and the lack of self‐interest for the greater good still exists.
When I wrote this book, I chose to deal with the PhD system in its current form. I wanted to meet you where you are with your PhD or postdoc and guide you through your career transition out of the PhD by providing a lens on how to learn the data, understand the big picture, assess your situation, learn from other PhDs, and navigate your PhD career transition through this otherwise unclear and uncertain system.
This book will give you a realistic perspective on earning a PhD. If you follow the guidance of this book and complete the exercises throughout the text, you will have a more successful PhD or postdoc. The interview transitional stories provide key insight into the often rocky road taken by PhDs. Read them and learn from these PhDs’ experiences. They are exceptionally honest and open stories.
With all the institutional obstacles, outside economic market dynamics, and changes in governmental funding allotments, there is still the singular PhD yearning for their own time and space to do research and hoping for a chance at a great job to demonstrate their worth. The pursuit of knowledge through pure research continues to exist in the hearts and minds of PhDs. There is still that silver lining. And there are plenty of careers that will fulfill PhDs and advance science. This book will show you the many avenues to success.
This book is for all the PhDs who deserve a fighting chance.
Preface
When I completed my PhD in 2015 from the University of Notre Dame in bioengineering, I believed I had gotten the most from my experience. I was looking back at five years, during which I had presented at conferences, received a fellowship, and published a few first author papers. I thought, “I must be competitive for a future career in academics.” And while shaking the hands of my PhD committee members at my defense, I figured that I could someday stand in their shoes. I knew I needed a postdoc to gain grant writing experience to be competitive for an academic job, and I decided that was the best next step for me.
When I entered my postdoc, that logical reasoning and methodical decision‐making gave way to crisis management. In the middle of my two‐year postdoc fellowship my advisor was denied tenure and had to leave the university. I remember feeling lost, but I also believed my success should be independent of my advisor, so I kept moving forward. Unfortunately, as time went on, I realized I could not sustain myself on my modest postdoctoral NIH grant salary and small research budget. I needed proper training, and a second postdoc was the only way to get it.
I had heard about the postdoc crisis, and the trap that PhDs can get into of going from one postdoc to the next without any change in results. The idea of starting over in a new lab without any guarantee of a future academic career was overwhelming. I was all too aware of the financial burden of pursuing a postdoc and the economic, emotional, and professional costs of prolonging the transition to industry, if that was to be the end result. Two to three more years without certainty was a risk I was not willing to take. Even though I never imagined going into an industry job, I decided this was the direction I was going to move in. The idea of wasting more years in a postdoc was convincing enough for me.
During my postdoc, I had access to career training at New York University (NYU) Langone Medical Center. NYU had received the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Broadening Experience in Scientific Training (BEST) award, and this two‐million‐dollar grant was earmarked specifically to promote PhD and postdoctoral career training. For the remainder of my postdoc, I tried to take as many training courses as I could that this grant had created at NYU. I did not want to miss out on the opportunity to transition my career with this wealth of support.
As I took more classes, I began to see the big picture of where PhDs fit into the economy. I met more and more fulfilled and happy PhDs who have meaningful careers. And the more I headed away from academics, the less I began to look back at that environment.
Having now been in a nonacademic career for six years, I have found my vast scientific and engineering knowledge to be very useful in industry. Moreover, I have even seen validation of my thinking as more and more industry leaders suggest that business should be run with a scientist mindset. A mindset that a PhD can really bring to the table each and every day. Instead of a lack of fulfillment or a siloed job, I have found industry to be ever‐changing and exciting to be a part of. Learning the way it works and how to perform in it has been a passion of mine as I went from starting my own company, teaching entrepreneurship, to consulting for a few startups, and eventually working my way back to industry.
The path that I have taken is similar to the road of many PhDs creating their PhD careers. In this book there are twelve first‐person transition stories from PhDs from India, China, Greece, Israel, Italy, and the United States. Each interview deconstructs the interviewee’s advisor, project, and environment, and then discusses how the PhD made their next career choices. Each PhD shares what they would tell a future PhD navigating this new landscape with different terrain than in the past.
This book contains the guidance, information, and empowerment that my peers and I wanted when we began our PhD and postdoc journeys in the late 2010s. To follow along with your PhD or postdoc, this book is broken into four parts:
Part I
: You Are Here.
Understanding today’s PhD job market.
Part II
: Your Academic Path.
Navigating your PhD and postdoc and developing an academic career plan.
Part III
: Your Nonacademic Path.
Comprehending nonacademic careers and how PhDs fit into careers in industry, government, and other economic sectors.
Part IV
: Becoming the Proactive PhD.
Optimizing your PhD and postdoc to become a proactive PhD.
I intend this book to be a continued reference to you throughout your PhD or postdoc. Write in this book. Scribble on the PhD diagnostic tests to learn how your PhD or postdoc is going. Jot down your ideas in the career evaluation questions. Discover your perfect career path. And use the anecdotal evidence from the transition stories to help yourself and be inspired for your own career.
This book is for you, with all the knowledge many of my peers and I have learned. It is the expert advice, that as PhDs, we wish we’d had.
Best of luck,
Tom
Part IYou Are Here
1The Twenty‐First Century PhD
1.1 A Realistic Perspective
The story of my PhD is similar to the story of many of the tens of thousands of PhDs who graduate each year. During my graduate school experience, I did not receive nonacademic career training. Instead, I was taught how to become a principal investigator (PI). I learned how to run a research laboratory at a research‐focused institution. Unfortunately, I was not taught how to convert my PhD into a job. And I was not alone.
The sad truth is that academic institutions do not budget enough money to support career training for PhDs (Malloy et al. 2021). And on top of that, your PIs do not have the in‐depth knowledge of the job market to support your PhD career search (Dalgleish 2021).
Many PhD advisors want to help PhDs navigate their job search but just do not have the experiences to help them (Figure 1.1).
1.2 The Current PhD Landscape Has Changed
From the 1960s to the 1990s, the PhD was the primary gateway to a career in academics. These were the kind of erudite, wool‐sweater‐wearing academic professors you might have envisioned. You might have imagined yourself among them, strolling across the university quad, deep in contemplation, entering classrooms full of students captivated by your lectures. This epitome of a professor still exists, but the competition to get this job and to keep it has changed drastically.
Figure 1.1 Advisors might want to help you with your job search, but they often do not keep up with the jobs available for PhDs, and therefore, other resources, like this book, are needed.
After the early 2000s, the odds of turning a PhD into an academic career changed dramatically, shifting the career landscape for PhDs. Many factors have contributed to the apparent decline in professorial positions, but the most significant factors influencing this have been:
the increased number of PhDs,
the decreased access to funding, and
the unchanged number of professor jobs.
1.2.1 Factor #1 : A Steady Rise in PhDs
One of the primary factors that has changed the job market for doctorates in the United States has been the steady rise in the supply of PhDs (National Science Foundation 2022). The number of PhDs granted in the United States has risen by approximately 3% on average since the late 1950s until today (Figure 1.2). In 2021, there were 52,250 doctorates awarded in total, and of those, 40,859 doctorates were awarded to PhDs focusing in the fields of science and engineering (S and E). This trending increase in the number of PhDs holds true globally, with doctorates increasing in countries throughout the world. PhDs being awarded doctorates increased by approximately 8% between 2013 and 2017 (Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development 2019).
Figure 1.2 The number of doctorates granted in the United States since 1958 has risen steadily (National Science Foundation 2022).
1.2.2 Variable #2: The Funding Rates
One of the reasons that the professor job market changed is because funding has not kept pace with the growing number of PhDs. In the early 2000s, the success rate for grants was higher than it is now (Figure 1.3). For example, in the 2000s, the success rate was approximately 32%, but by 2022, it had dropped to 21% (National Institutes of Health 2023). This drastic change is due to more competition for funding. In 1995, there were 25,225 applications, and by 2022, there were 54,571 applications.
You might be wondering, what has the government done to increase this rate of funding? Well, they have increased budgets, but not as much as it appears.
For example, the NIH budget increased from $10.8 billion to $40.9 billion from 1995 to 2021 (National Institutes of Health 2023). (Figure 1.4) During this time, annual compound growth was approximately 5.4%. However, the average inflation rate was approximately 2.5% during this same time period (Statista 2023). As such, the increase in the NIH budget is not as substantial as it appears. If the US government just received a budget increase to account for annual inflation from 1995 to 2021, the budget in 2021 would be approximately $19.7 billion. Fortunately, the NIH budget has increased, but not as much as it appears. Therefore, the real increase in the budget from 1995 to 2022 is closer to two times than it was in 1995, not four times.
Figure 1.3 The NIH average success rate in the late 1990s and early 2000s was approximately 32% and has since settled at approximately 20% from 2006 to 2022. In 2022, the NIH success rate was 21%. Research project grants in this graph include DP1 through DP5, P01, PN1, PM1, R00, R01, R03, R15, R16, R21, R22, R23, R29, R33 through R37, R50, R55, R56, R61, RC1 through RC4, RF1, RL1, RL2, RL9, RM1, SI2, UA5, UC1 through UC4, UC7, UF1, UG3, UH2, UH3, UH5, UM1, UM2, U01, U19, U34, and U3R (graph type: stacked bar chart) (National Institutes of Health 2023).
Figure 1.4 Since 1995, the NIH budget has grown from $10.8 billion to $40.9 billion in 2021, but the rate of inflation has been approximately 2.5% over this span of time. As such, accounting for inflation, the NIH budget increased from an adjusted $19.7 billion to $40.9 billion (National Institutes of Health Budget 2022).
And comparing the number of people applying for grants between 1995 and 2022, there were 2.2 times more grant applications but an increase in the number of awards of only 1.4 times (National Institutes of Health 2023). So despite the fact that the number awards increased since 1995, as depicted in Figure 1.3, the number of applications has increased at a faster rate. This is one of the main factors accounting for the scarcity of grants and higher competition.
Let's consider the number of NIH R01 grants awarded in 2022. In 2022, there were 36,198 applications and 7,816 awards given at a success rate of 22% for the coveted R01 grant. By contrast, the success rate was 32% in 2000. So despite more money being available in 2022, the success rate is lower for R01 grants than it was 20 years ago.
The reason that the success rate has not increased with increasing funding available is because there are more professors applying and, therefore, more competition.
This conundrum stems from the rising number of doctorates being awarded each year. The graduate system in the United States simply does not set up PhD graduates to match with an academic career with a clear job path. In fact, the figures do not get better for academic jobs.
1.2.3 Variable #3: An Unchanged Academic Job Market
A report in 2013 in Nature Biotechnology on PhD careers and recruitment specified that there are 3000 new faculty positions in S and E fields created annually (Schillebeeckx et al. 2013). The number of available faculty jobs does not align with the number of new PhD graduates (Figure 1.5). PhD graduates are in abundance compared to the number of faculty positions, with there being a 10 : 1 ratio of PhDs to faculty jobs. This ratio however, is even lower due to the number of PhDs who stay in postdoctoral positions applying to faculty jobs each year. An earlier study reported that from 1982 to 2011, almost 800,000 PhDs were awarded in S and E fields, but only about 100,000 academic faculty positions were created in those fields over the same span of time (Schillebeeckx et al. 2013). Taken together, these numbers are not very promising for PhDs aspiring for academic professor positions.
Does this professor application success rate still hold true today? Let us test this with a job search. Running a job search during the hiring period for the fall semester of 2023 for full‐time tenure‐track professors of engineering and professors of science that required a doctorate returned 1,934 and 5,618 job results, respectively (Indeed Job Search 2023). Of course, the search algorithm also included some positions that were not tenure track and slightly outside of S and E. Of the 40,857 newly graduated doctorates in S and E, 18% of these graduates could find jobs in the academic job market (National Science Foundation 2022). That leaves 82% of newly graduated PhDs to find other jobs. And this statistic is an underestimation because there would be more PhDs applying who graduated in previous years.
Figure 1.5 The percentage of PhDs who graduated in 2000 and 2021 were hired as professors in S and E, assuming there were 3000 professors hired each year (Schillebeeckx et al. 2013). There were 11 available positions per 100 PhDs who graduated in 2000 and 7.3 available positions for every 100 PhDs who graduated in 2021 in S and E. This estimation only accounts for PhDs who graduated in 2000 and 2021. It does not take into account the abundance of PhDs in postdocs who also might be applying for these job openings (National Science Foundation 2022).
1.3 The PhD Job Market is Vast
So where do the majority of PhDs go if they do not go into academic careers? Despite the difficulties of trying to make it in academics, the current job market for PhDs is vast and genuinely exciting. In fact, I would argue it is more exciting than ever before.
More and more S and E PhDs are finding their way into nonacademic careers in government, nonprofit, industry, startups, the financial sector, and many other economic areas. Hiring managers have realized the potential of PhDs and appreciate the value they contribute to the workplace.
If PhDs are finding careers in nonacademics, then how are they getting there?
1.4 Conclusions
Up until now, there have been many PhDs creating their careers in academics and nonacademics without much guidance. The truth is, the competition in academics is so high that most academic advisors cannot give you advice on how to navigate the current academic landscape (McDonnell 2019). In addition, most advisors also cannot help you navigate the nonacademic career landscape. And although 90% of PhDs will go into nonacademic careers, the academic system trains PhDs to obtain jobs in research universities and not many other places (Cassuto and Weisbuch 2021).
Together with the knowledge in this book, there are 12 first‐hand transition stories of PhDs after Part I, Part II, and Part III. These stories are from interviews with PhDs who actually navigated the career market in the last five to ten years.
Chapter 1 Key Takeaways
The number of new PhDs on the market has steadily increased since the 1960s.
Academic institutions have not increased their rate of hiring full‐time professor roles to match the increase in availability of PhDs.
Research funding has not grown at a rate to keep up with the rising number of PhDs.
With more PhDs on the market, PhDs have had to look for more alternative careers than the traditional academic career trajectory.
References
Cassuto, L. and Weisbuch, R. (2021).
The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education
. Johns Hopkins University Press.
Dalgleish, Melissa. (2021). Universities must do more to help Ph.D.s obtain skills for a variety of careers (opinion).
Inside Higher Ed
(26 August),
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(accessed 17 April 2023).
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Indeed: Job Search
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http://indeed.com
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Malloy, Jonathan, Lisa, Young, and Loleen, Berdahl. (2021). How the Ph.D. job crisis is built into the system and what can be done about it (opinion).
Inside Higher Ed
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https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2021/06/22/how‐phd‐job‐crisis‐built‐system‐and‐what‐can‐be‐done‐about‐it‐opinion
(accessed 17 April 2023).
McDonnell, J.J. (2019).
Navigating an Academic Career: A Brief Guide for PhD Students, Postdocs, and New Faculty
. Wiley.
National Institute of Health. (2023). NIH Data Book – Success rates: R01‐equivalent and research project grants.
NIH RePORTER
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https://report.nih.gov/nihdatabook/category/10
(accessed 11 March 2023).
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(accessed 11 March 2023).
National Science Foundation. (2022). Doctorate recipients from U.S. Universities: 2021 | NSF – National Science Foundation.
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(accessed 11 March 2023).
Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development. (2019). OECD work on careers of doctorate holders.
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Schillebeeckx, M., Brett, M., and Cory, L. (2013). The Missing Piece to Changing the University Culture.
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31 (10): 938–941.
Statista. (2023). Annual inflation rate U.S. 2022.
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https://www.statista.com/statistics/191077/inflation‐rate‐in‐the‐usa‐since‐1990
(accessed 11 March 2023).
2The Real PhD Career Landscape
2.1 Your Advisor Cannot Be Your Only Guide
As mentioned in the previous chapter, you cannot solely rely on your advisor's advice to understand the PhD career landscape (Figure 2.1). Advisors lack the resources and experiences to show you all of the available PhD careers.
2.2 PhDs in Nonacademic Careers
PhDs go into a wide range of careers in both academic and nonacademic paths. However, these PhDs who have navigated the job market in the last 20 years did it without a road map. Oftentimes, these PhD's career transitions could have been more straightforward without so much turbulence, anxiety, and stress. Having an actual guide to these careers will help future PhDs not face these challenges.
The term nonacademic is a “catch‐all” for any career outside of academics. Nonacademic career paths include careers in a multitude of fields, where PhDs, like yourself, are living happy and fulfilled lives.
Overall, PhD careers available to PhDs fall into several categories, including:
Academics,
Industry,
Startups,
Finance,
Nonprofits,
Government, and
Technology transfer and intellectual property.
Figure 2.1 Advisors often lack the necessary resources and experiences to demonstrate all the potential career paths for someone with a PhD. You will need to use your own initiative and resourcefulness to perceive and understand the current PhD employment opportunities.
PhDs find jobs within all of these sectors, which span from marketing to equity analysts all the way to national scientists.
2.3 PhDs in Specific Careers
2.3.1 How Many PhDs are Going Into These Jobs?
In 2021, 72% of PhDs had definite commitments at graduation. These commitments included industry‐ or business‐based jobs, academic positions, and postdoc positions. Only 36% of S and E PhDs ended up in academics, and looking at PhDs specifically in the physical sciences or in engineering, only 12% of PhDs had jobs in academics at graduation. However, this is not surprising, as evidenced by the numbers presented in Chapter 1. You might ask, if 72% of PhDs had commitments after graduation, then what about the other 28%?
Sadly, these 28% of PhD students were still looking for jobs after completing their PhDs. These PhDs might be working in their advisor's lab, working part‐time as lab or teaching assistants, or, worse yet, unemployed.
2.3.2 A PhD, Unemployed?
I know how shocking this seems. PhDs all too often find themselves unemployed due to a lack of career training and support to help them navigate the career landscape. They simply do not learn the correct job statistics. Of course, that is until now.
Of the PhDs with commitments, they received a range of salaries that varied according to their chosen fields (Figure 2.2). For instance, S&E PhDs can earn between $60,000 and $80,000 in academia and between $80,000 and $160,000 in industry. By contrast, postdoc salaries are low, with median salaries ranging from $50,000 to $55,000 in 2021.
Figure 2.2 Median annual salary of doctorate recipients with definite commitments in the US employed in industry or business, employed in academics, or in a postdoctoral position in 2021 (National Science Foundation 2022).
The National Institute of Health (NIH) sets the postdoctoral salary at $54,835 for a postdoctoral fellow with zero years of postdoctoral experience (National Institute of Health 2022). By comparison, most entry‐level jobs for a PhD have higher earning potential. The average salary of some PhD jobs in industry are:
Scientist: $91,000,
Medical Writer: $80,000,
Biomedical Scientist: $100,000,
Software Engineer: $112,000, and
Project Manager: $80,000 (Payscale
2023
).
There is quite a difference in earnings when comparing a postdoc to an industry position.
2.4 Self‐assessment and Research
How do you decide what to do? As you go through exercises in this book, you will receive guidance on seeing if you are competitive in academics, perform a self‐assessment to determine your next career, and finally, learn the steps to make that career happen.
As you move into the next chapter, you will get a realistic view of your PhD or postdoc. Then, in later chapters of Part II and Part III, you will gain information about careers in both academic and nonacademic careers.
2.5 Real PhD Career Transition Stories
As mentioned at the end of Chapter 1, the transition stories in this book span from the person's start of their PhD to their current career. They include individual lessons from real people navigating all types of PhD careers in various sectors of the economy. The stories are based on interviews with the individuals, written in first‐person accounts that each person has approved.
