Phd and career : do academics with a doctoral degree in Switzerland find adequate jobs?

Abstract

"In the course of the educational expansion the rising number of academics entering the labour market leads to two questions. First: Are academics capable to place themselves successfully in the labour market or do they have to face higher risks of unemployment? Second: Do academics find employment which is adequate to their high educational qualifications or do they have to accept inadequate jobs? We analyse both questions using unique data of the Swiss National Science Foundation Study 'PhD and Career' for academics who got a doctoral degree between 1996 and 2002. Job adequacy will be examined on three levels (vertical, horizontal and subjective) which gives a widespread view on the job situation of PhDs separated in gender and faculties. Results show, that unemployment and inadequate jobs is a rather marginal Problem. But there are differences between the faculties regarding the three levels of job adequacy. Also, we find differences in gender aspects to the disadvantage of women which we ascribe to the larger number of women working part time and their difficulties getting into leadership positions." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Engelage, S. & Schubert, F. (2009): Promotion und Karriere: Wie adäquat sind promovierte Akademikerinnen und Akademiker in der Schweiz beschäftigt? In: Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung, Vol. 42, No. 3, p. 213-233. DOI:10.1007/s12651-009-0017-7