Australian postgraduates are well paid and happy with their jobs but want more generic skills from their PhDs, according to a new education report.
The report, which surveyed about 2000 PhD graduates up to seven years since completing studies at Australia's top 'sandstone' universities, found about 80 percent of postgraduates thought their PhD was useful to their career.
Most were highly satisfied with their quality of research higher degree training but wanted more oral skills, report writing, data analysis and team-based skills for their jobs.
The report also found 90 percent of postgraduates were employed in professional and managerial jobs with the average full-time Australian wage $84,847 for men and $76,454 for women.
They undertook PhDs because of their interest in a specialised field and for career advancement.
The report, compiled by UQ's Social Research Centre (UQSRC) with help from the Group of Eight universities, is believed to be the first in-depth study of PhD satisfaction and work experiences in Australia.
Respondents were asked about their jobs and PhD experiences and quality.
Report author, Professor Mark Western from the UQSRC, said the report also highlighted the important mentoring and professional socialisation role of PhD supervisors.
"The current system is working well for these graduates," Professor Western said.
"The challenge is to incorporate experiences and skills into doctoral programs that are particularly important for subsequent employment, while preserving factors contributing to traditional independent research skill sets and capacities to contribute to knowledge."
The report found that most PhDs were in natural and physical sciences (36 percent) followed by arts, social sciences and humanities (34 percent), applied hard sciences such as information technology, engineering, architecture and agriculture (17 percent) and health (12 percent)
Most postgraduates took four years to submit their thesis and five years before having their PhD conferred.
About 18 percent worked overseas while 82 percent worked in Australia mostly in universities (50 percent) followed by public and private organizations (14 percent each) and in public sector research organizations (12 percent).
The $190,000 report was funded by The Department of Education Science and Training through the the Higher Education Innovation Program and the Collaboration and Structural Reform Fund.
MEDIA: Professor Western (3346 9688, 3365 2759, m.western@uq.edu.au) or Miguel Holland at UQ Communications (3365 2619)
