An evidence-based evaluation of transferrable skills and job satisfaction for science PhDs

Abstract

PhD recipients acquire discipline-specific knowledge and a range of relevant skills during their training in the life sciences, physical sciences, computational sciences, social sciences, and engineering. Empirically testing the applicability of these skills to various careers held by graduates will help assess the value of current training models. This report details results of an Internet survey of science PhDs (n = 8099) who provided ratings for fifteen transferrable skills. Indeed, analyses indicated that doctoral training develops these transferrable skills, crucial to success in a wide range of careers including research-intensive (RI) and non-research-intensive (NRI) careers. Notably, the vast majority of skills were transferrable across both RI and NRI careers, with the exception of three skills that favored RI careers (creativity/innovative thinking, career planning and awareness skills, and ability to work with people outside the organization) and three skills that favored NRI careers (time management, ability to learn quickly, ability to manage a project). High overall rankings suggested that graduate training imparted transferrable skills broadly. Nonetheless, we identified gaps between career skills needed and skills developed in PhD training that suggest potential areas for improvement in graduate training. Therefore, we suggest that a two-pronged approach is crucial to maximizing existing career opportunities for PhDs and developing a career-conscious training model: 1) encouraging trainees to recognize their existing individual skill sets, and 2) increasing resources and programmatic interventions at the institutional level to address skill gaps. Lastly, comparison of job satisfaction ratings between PhD-trained employees in both career categories indicated that those in NRI career paths were just as satisfied in their work as their RI counterparts. We conclude that PhD training prepares graduates for a broad range of satisfying careers, potentially more than trainees and program leaders currently appreciate.

Fig 1. Transferrable skills: Acquired doctoral skills and skill importance ratings in research-intensive and non-research-intensive careers (means).

Fig 1 Skills ordered from left (highest) to right (lowest) using transferrable skill ratings acquired during doctoral training as the reference category.

Fig 2. Transferrable skill importance for employment by career track.

Currently employed PhDs rated the importance of each skill for their current role (“Other” responses not included on the plot above). The overall mean importance rating for each transferrable skill during employment is represented by a corresponding grey bar, ordered from left (highest) to right (lowest). Each career track mean is represented by a color-coded dot overlaid on the grey bar corresponding to each transferrable skill.