Conventionally, the doctorate was a stepping stone to a lifelong career in academia. But today, the number of PhD graduates vastly exceeds the number of job openings at universities and research institutions. Researchers say that many universities are not preparing graduates for a career outside academia. 'We need to make doctoral education more meaningful, more sustainable and better aligned with the diverse societal and labour-market needs,' says Claudia Sarrico, the Secretary of State for Higher Education in Portugal who previously worked at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. Among the 38 countries belonging to the OECD, the number of new doctorate holders almost doubled between 1998 and 20171, and has continued to increase in the years since. (Although several countries, including Australia and Brazil, have seen a dip in PhD enrolments over the past few years, driven in part by high living costs and low stipends.) In China, the number of...
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