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National developments

~ Purpose of the Doctorate

Overview and research

There is considerable discussion as to the purpose of the contemporary doctorate centring around a number of key questions:

  • Is the purpose of the doctorate to make an original contribution to knowledge? or
  • Is the purpose of the doctorate to train future researchers? or
  • More specifically to educate future academics?

Certainly with the increased focus on research training in Australia and the Australian Government's Research Training Scheme (RTS) there has been a renewed focus on the purpose of the doctorate. In the United Kingdom for example there has been a substantial shift in the purpose of the doctorate being to train researchers. While not to quite the same extent, there has also been a shift in Australia, particularly with the notion of completing a substantial body of original work being challenged by the time limitations imposed by the RTS.

However, a recent OECD study suggests that perhaps in Australia, at least, we see the doctorate as being part of an academic research focus rather than being used to make a broader contribution to society. For example the percentage of PhDs per 1000 in the labour force in a selection of OECD countries is as follows:

  • Switzerland 27.5%
  • Germany 20.1%*
  • USA 10.7%
  • Canada 8.2%
  • Australia 7.8%

Enders, from Germany, further supports the above figures with the following: "PhD graduates have a significant career advantage [outside higher education] in comparison with their graduate peers from the same discipline without a PhD. Furthermore, the PhD provides an entrance ticket especially for elite positions - consider, for example, that 50% of the members of the board of the 200 biggest German companies have a PhD." (2005, p. 122)

Certainly the Graduate Destinations Data for Australian university doctoral graduates indicates that the largest percentage of graduates is working within the field of Higher Education, at least at the time of surveying which was approximately six months after completion. For example, in 2004 51.7% of all graduates surveyed reported that they were working in Higher Education, with 63.8% of those graduates having graduated from Go8 universities and 35.1% from Regional universities. Even across Broad Fields of Study, the majority of graduates, other than for Engineering, and Agriculture and Environment, were working in 'Education'. (For Agriculture and Environment 50% were working in Government followed by 30% in Education, and for Engineering and 31.4% were in the Private Sector with 30.9% in Education.)

However, what about candidates who are not envisioning their doctoral candidature for employment purposes?

The above text was based on the following research:

Auriol, L. (2007). Labour market characteristics and international mobility of doctorate holders: Results of seven countries. Paris: OECD.

Enders, J. (2005). Border crossings: Research training, knowledge dissemination and the transformation of academic work. Higher Education, 49(1-2), 119-133.

Graduate Careers Council of Australia data on Graduate Destinations, 2004.

Mullins, G., & Kiley, M. (2002). 'It's a PhD, not a Nobel Prize': How experienced examiners assess research theses. Studies in Higher Education, 27(4), 369-386.

Ideas and tools

Undertake an informal poll of candidates in your School/Department to gauge their aspirations following graduation? Are they aiming for employment, if so in what field? What do they think is the purpose of the doctorate?

ANU information

A study of ANU candidates in 2006 revealed that approximately 70% of all candidates aspired to an academic career on completion of their doctorate.

Huon, G., Chapman, A., Glennie, M. and Jarvis, R (2006) Career aspirations of postgraduate research students at the ANU. Canberra, The Australian National University.

 

For College-specific information contact:

Currently ANU colleges are compiling information about national developments in supervisory practice. In the meantime, contact the College Associate Dean (HDR) for more general college information.