PhD holders’ working conditions and job satisfaction in Spain: a cross-sector comparison

ABSTRACT

The present study aimed to compare PhD holders’ current working conditions, satisfaction, and changes in their job four years after graduation across three job sectors, namely universities, research institutes and industry. We analysed the responses to the survey on PhD graduates’ employability of the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency, AQU Catalunya. Participants were 1,798 PhD holders from all disciplines who graduated between 2014 and 2016. Our findings show that PhD holders working outside academia had better working conditions in terms of the type of contract, working hours and salary than those at universities and research institutes. PhD holders working outside academia experienced fewer changes after the PhD and were less satisfied with the connection between their job and the PhD, but no differences were found among sectors in the satisfaction with job content and overall job satisfaction. Results show a clear mismatch between the education level required for the job and the level of responsibilities, not only for PhD holders working beyond academia but also, to a lesser extent, for those working at universities and research institutes. This study contributes to the understanding of academic and non-academic trajectories and points out several gaps and lines for future research and doctoral education.

KEYWORDS:

• PhD careers
• working conditions
• Spanish PhD
• researcher careers
• research beyond academia

Acknowledgements

The study was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MICIN) as part of the larger project Early Career Researcher Identity development: Careers within and outside academia -ECRID- [PID2019-109358RB-I00].

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 This question referred to extending the hours reflected in the contract, e.g., from a 10-hour workday to 20 h, or from part-time to full-time.

2 We are aware this term is not without problems. Given the diverse nature of the organizations in this group, it is difficult to find an affirming inclusive term. Also, this is a widely used term in the literature on PhD holders’ trajectories (see, for instance, Bloch et al., 2015; McAlpine & Inouye, 2021; Passaretta et al., 2018).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación [grant number PID2019-109358RB-I00].