The declining interest in an academic career.
Michael Roach1, Henry Sauermann2,3
1Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States of America.
Plos One
|September 19, 2017
Summary
Many science and engineering PhD students lose interest in academic careers during graduate school. This decline is linked to changing job preferences, not academic job market challenges.
Area of Science:
- Science and Engineering PhD Programs
- Academic Career Development
Background:
- Growing evidence suggests science and engineering PhD students' interest in academic careers wanes during graduate training.
- The reasons for this decline remain unclear, with debate on whether it's due to job market discouragement or fundamental shifts in career goals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the changes in career preferences among PhD students over time.
- To identify the key drivers behind declining interest in academic research careers.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal survey tracking a cohort of PhD students from 39 U.S. research universities.
- Analysis of changes in career preferences and their potential causes throughout graduate training.
Main Results:
- A significant portion of students (55%) remain interested in academic careers, while 25% lose interest, and 15% were never interested.
- The decline in interest is not driven by academic job availability, postdoctoral requirements, or funding, but by a misalignment between student preferences and academic career attributes.
Conclusions:
- Declining interest in academic careers is not universal but a divergence among students.
- Changes in students' perceived research ability contribute to this trend, whereas publication counts do not.
- Findings have implications for scientific labor markets, PhD career development, and science policy.
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