PhD students are quite optimistic about their future, according to the Dutch Network of PhD Students. So optimistic in fact, that it is almost tragic, because in fact there are very few jobs available.
Two out of three PhD students would like a postgraduate position after getting their degree. One out of five is aiming for a job as a lecturer. Over two-thirds are very confident about getting that job.
These results came from an extensive survey by research bureau Research for Policy, for the Dutch Network of PhD students. This was the first time a large group of PhD students and postgraduates was questioned about their happiness, desires and expectations about their career.
Not every PhD student is the same. Those studying at technological universities are less likely to want an academic career. They are tempted by a job in industry. The same goes - albeit less strongly - for PhD students at the University of Wageningen. But the vast majority seeks employment at the university.
That is tragic, according to Derek Jan Fikkers of the Dutch Network of PhD Students. `The number of jobs is still very low. That path is simply not available to eighty percent of the PhD students. We think they should be made aware of that. Most PhD students cannot get a postgraduate position, let alone a permanent appointment. Staying at the university in effect puts them on a dead track.'
Most PhD students do not realize this. A third of them would like to become a professor. Twelve percent of those think they stand a very good chance of doing so. Just over a third are satisfied with a job as assistant professor or associate professor. Respectively, 43 and 35 percent of them are confident about getting that position.
Remarkably, most PhD students are realistic about their chances in their current work environment: almost half the PhD students are unhappy about the career options at their current employer and only one-seventh are completely satisfied.
They start fantasizing when they read the advertisements for other positions. Over half of them `monitor the job market' or are `actively looking' for a new job. Over half of them have reviewed vacant situations and over a third plan to do so.
But do not ask them whether they want to attend a career orientation course. Only eight percent did so and almost three out of five do not intend to do so. They are not interested in individual career advice either, and seventy percent will not even think about doing a short internship outside the university. Two-thirds do not want job interview training.
Fikkers does not want to make these courses obligatory. `That is everyone's own responsibility.' But he does want universities to care more about their PhD students. `It is their moral duty to be clear about the limited career possibilities, especially now that they are increasingly referring to PhD programs as “education”'.
Trans. Jeroen Latour
