Warrenton, VA — Over fifty experts in graduate education met last week to investigate the challenges of understanding the career pathways of PhD holders. Currently little is known about the full range of careers held by doctoral recipients. Since many PhD holders do not ultimately take university positions, there is a corresponding lack of information about the contributions of this population to the U.S. workforce.

The workshop, which met on September 29-30, represents a key component of the project Understanding PhD Career Pathways for Program Improvement, a Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) initiative funded by the Alfred P. Sloan and Andrew W. Mellon foundations. Participants in the workshop included graduate deans; researchers from major studies on career tracking; representatives of disciplinary societies, including prominent faculty in different fields; graduate students; and other experts.

CGS President Suzanne T. Ortega explained, “A better understanding of doctoral careers will allow programs to develop curricula and professional development opportunities that better prepare graduate students for the full range of careers they are likely to follow.” She added, “Better transparency about where PhDs ultimately pursue work will also empower current and prospective PhD students to make informed choices with respect to graduate education.”

Over the course of the two-day workshop, there were many calls for continued analysis of the gaps in the current research, as the next step toward developing a common set of definitions, processes, and procedures that would allow universities to improve their graduate programs and better inform key stakeholders.

This fall CGS will analyze the results of the workshop, and outline next steps for future work in this area, for a report that will be shared widely with the higher education community.