{"id":2261,"date":"2012-11-02T06:08:55","date_gmt":"2012-11-02T06:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cirge\/?page_id=2261"},"modified":"2013-01-14T01:24:11","modified_gmt":"2013-01-14T01:24:11","slug":"2261-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.education.uw.edu\/cirge\/phd-career-path-tracking\/2261-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Sciences PhDs – Five Years Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Social Science PhDs\u2014Five+ Years Out survey is CIRGE\u2019s latest contribution to the PhD career path and retrospective program evaluation research. Funded by the Ford Foundation, Social Science PhDs\u2014Five+ Years Out, surveyed PhD recipients who received their degrees between 1995 and 1999 from 65 U.S. universities in six disciplines\u2014anthropology, communications, geography, history, political science, and sociology.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Methods<\/span><\/h4>\n

The survey was designed to assess current employment status, types of job sectors and job satisfaction, to better understand career trajectories among recent PhD awardees, and to evaluate graduate programs. \u00a0Because it often takes doctorates up to\u00a0 4 years to find stable employment situations, surveys taken immediately after completing the doctorate are not helpful in understanding the career paths of doctorates. A survey five years after the PhD completion is also the optimal time to reflect on the PhD program in which one has studied, because the program experience is still relatively fresh in the respondents\u2019 mind. Therefore, CIRGE\u2019s Social Science PhDs\u2013Five+ Years Out survey focused on the job search, employment and retrospective evaluation of the PhD program, and the usefulness of the PhD for careers five + years after degree completion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Findings<\/span><\/h4>\n

\u00a0The data collected provides tools for program evaluation, benchmarks for comparison, and objective information on PhD career outcomes. Key findings are:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Among surveyed social science PhDs, 6 to 10 years post-PhD, 63% were tenure-track or tenured professors, 19% held other kinds of jobs at colleges and universities, and 18% worked in business, government, and non-profit sectors.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Men and women were equally likely to begin careers in tenure-track faculty positions; however, women experienced more work-family conflict, were more likely to be single and to forgo desired children, and lagged behind men in achieving tenure.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Respondents gave high quality ratings to their PhD programs for training in analytical competencies central in doctoral education, but often felt their PhD program had neglected career preparation, socialization into the academic community, and writing and publishing.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Fewer than half of respondents reported the availability of formal training in teaching in their PhD program.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Reflecting the usefulness of doctoral study in the social sciences, respondents in all disciplines and job categories rated as \u201cvery important\u201d in their current jobs: critical thinking, data analysis and synthesis, and writing and publishing.<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Respondents often viewed their programs as failing to train them well in research design and writing and publishing.<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Competencies not traditionally central in PhD programs were very important in many respondents\u2019 jobs\u2014including team work, communication skills, working in interdisciplinary contexts, and managing people and
    \n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Investigators:<\/span>\u00a0Maresi Nerad, Elizabeth Rudd, Emory Morrison and Joseph Picciano<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Download:\u00a0Highlight Report<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    See note in\u00a0Inside Higher Education<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    Publications<\/h4>\n