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.

Funding: National Institutes of Health (NIH) award number DP7OD020317 ( https://commonfund.nih.gov/workforce/fundedresearch ) supported work on this manuscript in the form of salary support for R.L.L. and P.D.B. while writing this manuscript. Co-Pricipal investigators on the grant included P.D.B., J.G.C., and P.J.B. The content contained herein does not reflect the views of the NIH and the authors are solely responsible for its content. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Data Availability: All data presented in this manuscript are also provided as S3 Data File as part of the Supporting Information files, with the exception of identifying information which has been removed. As noted in the 'Response to Reviewers' the specified software needed to open S3 file is now noted in the manuscript as well.

Introduction

The original academic training model was designed as an apprentice model for a single career pathway. In that model, the faculty advisor served as a mentor, guiding each trainee towards a future position as a tenure track faculty member. Old assumptions regarding the natural progression of PhD scientists into faculty careers are rapidly changing to reflect a job market where only a small percentage of PhDs will follow in their academic advisors’ footsteps (e.g., [1, 2, 3, 4]). Over time, the number of PhDs conferred in scientific disciplines in the U.S. [3] has risen substantially, increasing the pool of applicants for tenure-track faculty positions [5]. Hence, career progression for today’s PhD graduates is quite different. Instead of resembling a continuous pipeline, training outcomes have been compared to a branching career pipeline [1, 6].

Because of the traditional structure of the academy, an outdated perception still persists that the best academic trainees in the sciences pursue faculty careers [7], and that the traditional tenure-track career path represents the true path to job satisfaction. Furthermore, a perception persists that doctoral trainees in the sciences and related fields develop discipline-specific skills that are relevant only to field-specific research, limiting options for other career choices. This study aimed to test these assumptions. We have chosen to focus broadly on disciplines which place an emphasis on employing the scientific method to engage in research, including life sciences, physical sciences, computational sciences, social sciences, and engineering disciplines. Social sciences are included because of their common reliance on the scientific method for research and training. Sometimes these disciplines are collectively referred to as “STEM” (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics); while there is merit to considering some of these academic areas separately [8, 9], this broad focus is consistent with Science and Engineering Indicators published by the National Science Foundation which includes all of the disciplines outlined herein [10]. For the purposes of this study, we will refer to this group collectively as “science PhDs.” First, we identify skills developed by these PhD-level trainees. Next, we highlight similarities and/or differences in the development of transferrable skills for those who pursue research-intensive (RI) versus non-research-intensive (NRI) careers. Finally, we explore potential job satisfaction differences between the two broad career groups.

Many graduate institutions struggle to adjust to new job market realities, continuing to provide training primarily for tenure-track faculty positions. However, there are an increasing number and range of opportunities for PhD-trained scientists that lead to distinguished careers in both RI and NRI career pathways (i.e., [11, 12, 13]). This evolution of the career landscape challenges the apprentice model for doctoral training wherein PhDs are prepared primarily for faculty research positions instead of the wide variety of jobs available to them.

Despite recent reports of doctoral program alumni entering NRI careers [2, 14, 15], empirical data related to transferrable skill development and associated career outcomes are lacking. Trainees have limited familiarity with rapidly evolving hiring trends and the wide range of job opportunities available; this could be remedied by greater visibility of PhD career outcomes data [16]. Previous research has focused on faculty positions (e.g., comparing the number of faculty positions available to graduate school enrollment numbers), or is limited to specific disciplines rather than cross-disciplinary samples (e.g., biomedical fields) [15, 17]. We have therefore engaged in an extensive study of skills developed during PhD training across scientific disciplines, and of the contribution of these skills to career outcomes and job satisfaction for PhDs employed in a variety of careers. The results of this analysis can inform efforts to improve professional development in doctoral training programs. The current analysis begins to address this knowledge gap by: examining skill development during training relative to skill importance in actual positions obtained, and examining job satisfaction for PhDs in their post-training employment role.

The purpose of this study is to identify skills important to the success of both major career trajectories (RI and NRI) and to determine whether transferrable skills for both were developed during PhD training. We define RI careers as those careers where the scientist is conducting research as a primary function of the job. NRI careers include research-related careers, which require scientific knowledge but are not directly related to conducting research (see Materials and methods for listed example careers in each category). Our sample includes respondents who indicated they were in the following disciplines: life sciences, physical sciences, computational sciences, social sciences, and engineering, allowing us to identify a core set of skills developed in scientifically-based doctoral training. The analysis draws on recently-collected survey data to determine skill attainment for those entering both RI and NRI careers and also examines job satisfaction for each career group.

We hypothesized that many skills acquired during doctoral training correspond with the needs of employers in both RI and NRI careers, yet we anticipated that development of certain skills may be preferentially beneficial to certain career fields. We further hypothesized that some skills important for career success are inadequately developed through doctoral training, and we term these “skill gaps.” To identify these classes of competencies, we examined the development of transferrable skills during doctoral training and compared ratings of self-assessed skill development with ratings of the importance of those same skills for job performance in subsequent employment. In this manner, we measured and tested how effectively graduate training prepares PhDs for a wide range of careers. Furthermore, we evaluated whether there were any differences between RI and NRI careers in job satisfaction. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for graduate training in the sciences and provide specific recommendations that address development of skills that are especially important in all careers available to PhDs.