While the number of PhDs awarded by Canadian universities has increased by 68 per cent between 2002 and 2011, the Canadian labour market hasn’t been able to take full advantage of the skills and the expertise of its most educated workforce, says a new report by the Conference Board of Canada.
“What we found is that the PhDs in Canada generally go on to rewarding careers both inside and outside the academia,” said Dr. Jessica Edge, Senior Research Associate at the Conference Board of Canada. “But at times they may face a challenging initial career transition in making that shift when they graduate. This raises important questions about how Canada can achieve the maximum benefits from the knowledge and skills of PhD graduates”
Some of it is due to the fact that it is difficult for many PhDs to apply the skills they earned in their PhD to a non-academic setting, Edge said.
It’s a case of both employers not understanding the value of the PhD and the skills these candidates bring with them to the job but also PhDs not having the networks to connect them to potential employers, Edge said.
Only 40 per cent of PhD graduates work in the post-secondary education (PSE) sector, while the majority of PhDs end up working outside academia, she said.
Of those, about 17 per cent hold positions in the natural applied sciences; 11 per cent in health-related occupations; and another 11 per cent in law, social, community, and government services and education other than post-secondary education. Many graduates are also employed as managers across varied industries (9.5 per cent).
“Someone who’s done a PhD has a high level of research skills that you don’t find in other graduates,” Edge said. “They know how to take a big problem and a big issue and then break it down and tackle it. They also have great critical thinking skills, strong writing skills, strong project management skills, because just to get through a PhD it takes a lot of time and resource management.”
And even though PhDs might face a challenging initial transition but overall the return on a PhD is good, the face better employment outcomes, and they make more than other graduates, Edge said.
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