Branching career pipelines: a latent class analysis of PHD students’ career intentions

What is it about?

This study focuses on the diversity of career pipelines available to doctoral students. Using data from the Nature 2019 global PhD survey and latent class analysis (LCA), we identified five different classes among doctoral students with regards to their career preferences between research and non-research jobs across diverse working sectors. The five classes include: Pure Academic Enthusiasts (25.60% of the participants), Research-Driven Flexibles (28.64%), Non-research Centrists (16.27%), Uncertain Career Explorers (13.63%), and Non-academia Pursuers (15.86%). Research-Driven Flexibles, inclusive of researching roles beyond academia, demonstrate similar engagement and academic skills but have more transferable skills compared to Pure Academic Enthusiasts. Uncertain Career Explorers express positivity but show relatively lower engagement and academic skills. Non-academia Pursuers spend above-average time on learning but have the weakest relationship with supervisors, participation in academic activities, campus environmental support and transferable skills. Older doctoral students with dual degrees are less likely to be Uncertain Career Explorers, while those motivated by academic interests are more likely to be Research-Driven Flexibles or Pure Academic Enthusiasts.

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Photo by Stephanie Hau on Unsplash

Photo by Stephanie Hau on Unsplash