Yes. Job crisis has economic, psychological effects
Each year, more than 7,000 bright and determined students in Canada are awarded PhDs. However, only 20 per cent will ever work as university professors, and only 2 per cent of jobs in the country require a PhD, according to the Conference Board of Canada.
Indeed, getting a first job after these studies is just the beginning of an arduous battle to secure work that matches a PhD graduate’s hard-won expertise. The most fortunate among them usually begin with a post-doctoral position earning about the same as the national average secretarial salary; less than $45,000 per year.
The tight job market for PhDs affects all disciplines, from humanities graduates to life science PhDs.
The fact is, in spite of developing key competencies during their training in research, analysis, communication and creativity, they appear to be perceived as irrelevant to the job market and face serious challenges transitioning to careers outside the academic world.
Part of the reason for that is that their professional skills and networks are underdeveloped, and employers are often reluctant to hire them. As a consequence, the majority of PhDs end up employed or — to be more accurate — underemployed in nonacademic positions.
Living in a precarious economic situation with an average debt of $41,100 (the highest debt level among categories of college or university graduates), many PhDs experience critical mental health issues that include depression and stress, which can lead to suicide.
The PhD employment crisis is systemic and requires provincial and federal governments (which finance higher education), universities, funding agencies, industry — and PhDs themselves — to work together to find solutions for the short and long term.
The answers to this problem are not simple. It is crucial to produce accurate data to understand the multiple dimensions of the mismatch between PhDs and the job market. With this data, a national discussion could be launched with all the relevant actors to implement reforms of PhD programs for the benefit of the Canadian society and not only for the self-interest of universities.
In the meantime, it’s clear we cannot depend solely on not-for-profit organizations, such as Mitacs, which helps university graduates find employment in the private sector, with NGOs or in government. That’s because these programs can assist only a small number of applicants.
Nor can PhD graduates depend on the new so-called “transition consultants” to find them jobs.
PhD programs need a comprehensive strategic approach and new regulations led by governments at the provincial and federal levels that assure that every PhD can integrate into the job market according to their skills and capabilities.
An opposing view to mine recently appeared in Policy Options magazine.
The article, “End the PhD bashing to end the PhD problem,” argued that the situation is not as critical as I mention, because, as the Conference Board of Canada suggests, PhDs have the lowest unemployment rate in the country.
The article’s author also argued that the problem could be partially attributed to how PhDs sell their skills in the job market versus an employer’s perception of how they can practically use that expertise. But the bottom line is this: Canada has a skills shortage and is experiencing — as are others advanced economies — a transition to a digital economy that will have a tremendous impact on the nature of work in the near future. Thanks to their skills, PhD holders could play a crucial contribution to the new economy.
At this time, in this environment, PhDs shouldn’t be struggling to find a job where they can use their talent.