The labour market situation of doctorate holders First results of the CDH data collection by Laudeline Auriol, OECD Secretariat Madrid, 26-27 April 2006 1
The project on Careers of Doctorate Holders (CDH) A joint OECD/Eurostat/UNESCO project launched by the OECD Secretariat in 2004 An expert group of 30 member countries among which the United States, Japan, China, India, Argentina, Uganda and many European countries A three-component package developed by the expert group: output tabulations, methodological guidelines and a survey questionnaire A first data collection in september 2005 data for Australia, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, United States 2
Outline of the presentation Labour force status of doctorate holders Occupations of doctorate holders (of which researchers) Mobility of doctorate holders Possible barriers and incentives for career diversification Salaries Satisfaction of doctorate holders with regard to their employment situation 3
Unemployment rates of doctorate holders are low but higher for women than for men (except in Canada) Unemployment rate Australia Men 2.2 2001 Women 2.7 Total 2.3 Canada Men 4.0 2001 Women 3.0 Total 3.7 Germany Men 2.5 2004 Women 4.7 Total 3.2 United States Men 2.5 2003 Women 3.7 Total 2.9 4
Transition to employment of young doctorate holders takes time and is longer for womenthanfor men Unemployment rate of doctorate holders by year of doctoral degree -- Australia 2001 8.0 7.0 Men Women 6.0 5.0 % 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 5
Different age patterns of unemployment across countries Unemployment rate of doctorate holders by age category 6 25-34 years old 35-44 years old 45-54 years old 55-64 years old 65 or more TOTAL 5.4 5 % 4 3 2.9 2.4 2.2 2.2 2.3 3.5 3.4 2.5 3.8 3.2 2.5 3.0 2.9 2.9 2 1.5 1.9 1.6 1 0 Australia 2001 Germany 2004 United States 2003 6
Unemployment rates of natural science and engineering doctorate holders are relatively high Unemployment of doctorate holders by field of doctorate degree Natural sciences Engineering and technology Medical sciences Agricultural sciences Social sciences Humanities TOTAL 7 6 5 5.3 5.9 % 4 3 2.6 3.5 3.6 2.3 3.3 2.6 3.1 3.6 3.6 3.2 3.7 3.9 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.9 2 1.5 1 1.0 0 Australia 2001 Germany 2004 United States 2003 7
Part-time and temporary employment can be high, especially for women Full-time employment Part-time employment Permanent employment Temporary employment Australia Men 85.7 14.3 Germany Men 89.7 10.3 2001 Women 71.7 28.3 2004 Women 84.3 15.7 Total 81.8 18.2 Total 88.0 12.0 Germany Men 94.0 6.0 Switzerland Men 80.7 19.3 2004 Women 71.7 28.3 2004 Women 74.1 25.9 Total 87.1 12.9 Total 78.9 21.1 United States Men 94.8 5.2 2003 Women 86.5 13.5 Total 92.0 8.0 In Germany, 34% of 25-34 years old and 14% of the 35-44 years old are on temporary contracts 8
Employed doctorate holders by occupation Occupation Canada 2001 Germany 2004 USA 2003 LEGISLATORS, SENIOR OFFICIALS AND MANAGERS 11.5 4.3 10.5 PROFESSIONALS 73.8 80.9 81.2 Physical, mathematical and engineering science professionals 15.9 18.0 16.2 Physicists, chemists and related professionals 6.5 5.0 5.2 Mathematicians, statisticians and related professionals 0.4 0.9 Computing professionals 3.9 2.1 3.8 Architects, engineers and related professionals 5.1 10.8 6.3 Life science and health professionals 9.4 34.3 14.2 Life science professionals 3.3 1.9 6.0 Health professionals (except nursing) 5.9 32.4 7.2 Nursing and midwifery professionals 0.2 1.0 Teaching professionals 37.1 13.3 33.1 College, university and higher education teaching professionals 37.1 6.6 29.7 Secondary education teaching professionals 5.3 1.9 Other teaching professionals 1.4 1.6 Other professionals 11.4 15.3 17.6 Business professionals 1.8 3.1 4.6 Legal professionals 0.8 3.9 0.4 Archivists, librarians and related information professionals 0.2 0.5 Social science and related professionals 8.5 3.1 7.6 Writers and creative or performing artists 2.3 1.8 Other professionals 1.9 2.5 Other ISCO-88 groups 14.7 14.8 8.4 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 9
Employed doctorate holders by occupation and field of degree United States Natural sciences Engineering and technology Medical sciences Agricultural sciences Social sciences Humanities LEGISLATORS, SENIOR OFFICIALS AND MANAGERS 6.9 9.9 6.7 6.6 15.7 7.2 PROFESSIONALS 86.2 85.5 81.6 81.3 74.3 83.8 Physical, mathematical and engineering science professionals 25.6 64.1 3.0 14.1 2.4 1.2 Physicists, chemists and related professionals 14.1 4.0 1.0 6.2 0.2 Mathematicians, statisticians and related professionals 2.1 0.7 0.4 Computing professionals 6.2 10.6 1.6 4.6 1.1 1.2 Architects, engineers and related professionals 3.3 48.9 0.7 Life science and health professionals 29.4 0.8 49.0 39.4 2.5 1.3 Life science professionals 15.0 5.2 35.7 0.3 Health professionals (except nursing) 13.9 36.1 3.7 1.5 0.3 Nursing and midwifery professionals 0.5 7.6 0.8 1.0 Teaching professionals 25.5 17.8 23.4 26.1 38.5 52.9 College, university and higher education teaching professionals 24.7 17.5 22.4 22.8 32.5 46.5 Secondary education teaching professionals 0.7 2.5 4.9 Other teaching professionals 3.5 1.6 Other professionals 5.7 2.6 6.3 2.1 31.0 28.3 Business professionals 3.5 2.1 4.9 6.1 5.7 Legal professionals 0.2 0.8 Archivists, librarians and related information professionals 0.3 2.5 Social science and related professionals 0.6 0.2 1.5 19.9 1.1 Writers and creative or performing artists 1.2 2.4 4.2 Other professionals 1.5 14.4 Other ISCO-88 groups 6.8 4.7 11.6 12.0 10.0 9.0 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 10
Employed doctorate holders by occupation and field of degree Germany Natural sciences Engineering and technology Medical sciences Agricultural sciences Social sciences Humanities LEGISLATORS, SENIOR OFFICIALS AND MANAGERS 6.2 6.9 PROFESSIONALS 79.7 75.8 97.0 73.2 75.7 82.6 Physical, mathematical and engineering science professionals 46.5 60.6 4.5 Physicists, chemists and related professionals 23.4 Mathematicians, statisticians and related professionals Computing professionals 7.3 Architects, engineers and related professionals 14.8 52.5 Life science and health professionals 8.1 93.8 54.8 Life science professionals 6.1 Health professionals (except nursing) 93.4 44.0 Nursing and midwifery professionals Teaching professionals 17.2 7.6 26.5 31.3 College, university and higher education teaching professionals 12.3 5.5 17.2 Secondary education teaching professionals 15.4 Other teaching professionals 5.5 Other professionals 7.9 6.3 43.3 43.1 Business professionals 8.9 Legal professionals 17.2 Archivists, librarians and related information professionals Social science and related professionals 9.5 Writers and creative or performing artists 15.1 Religious professionals Public service administrative professionals 4.7 Other ISCO-88 groups 14.8 21.6 17.6 15.3 Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 11
Research activity 76% of employed doctorate holders in Canada and 72.5% of those in the United States are researchers In the United States, working as researcher is more frequent for men (74%) than for women (70%) And, postdoctoral occupations are hold by 7.3% of researchers with a doctoral degree in natural science This percentage reaches 11.3% for women against 6.9% for men Postdoctoral positions also represent 5.8% of US female researchers holding a doctoral degree in medical sciences and 1.3% of male researchers holding a doctoral degree in engineering. 12
Job-to-job mobility: length of stay with the same employer 62% of doctorate holders in Germany have been with the same employer for at least 5 years against 55% in the United States. 56% of doctorate holders who are in research occupations in the United States have been with the same employer for at least five years against 51% for those in non-research occupations. In addition, a higher percentage of those in non-research positions hold their job for less than 1 year. Among US researchers, it is in higher education that mobility is less frequent: 60% of the employed hold their job for at least 5 years against 50% in other sectors. 13
Different salary patterns between Canada and the United States Median annual salary of employed doctorate holders (current PPP dollar) Business enterprise sector Sector of employment Higher Government education sector sector Private nonprofit sector Canada (2001) Total 54 085 50 123 54 776 55 590 52 098 Men 58 176 55 639 58 044 59 098 55 852 Women 46 429 41 633 47 518 49 105 44 249 United States (2003) Total Employed as researcher of which: postdocs Not employed as researcher 1 Total Men 75 000 95 000 85 000 65 000 60 000 36 000 85 000 Women 55 000 71 000 65 000 53 000 50 000 38 500 63 000 14
Satisfaction of doctorate holders with their employment situation Job is related to doctoral degree for the vast majority. But 7% both in the case of the total US population and of the Canadian 2000 graduates -- are not in a job related to their degree. The vast majority of doctorate holders in the United States express satisfaction with their employment situation. But are more satisfied with criteria linked to content of work (intellectual challenge, level of responsibility, degree of independence and contribution to society) than with those related to employment conditions (salary, benefits, job security, location and opportunities for advancement). Dissatisfaction reaches 20% of US doctorate holders (25% in the case of women) in relation to salary and 25% (30% in the case of women) as regards opportunities for advancement. 15
Summary and conclusions The data reveal a diversity of the labour markets for doctorate holders across countries in terms of unemployment, type of contract, occupational and salary patterns Unemployment rates of doctorate holders remain low but are relatively high in science and engineering compared to other fields of degree Transition to employment can take some time, especially in terms of access to permanent employment 16
Summary and conclusions Women are less favoured then men on the labour market in terms of unemployment, time to employment, type of contract, access to research positions and salary At least 10 or 15% of doctorate holders are unemployed, employed in a job under their qualification or not related to their doctoral degree In the US, dissatisfaction reaches 20% of doctorate holders in relation to salary and 25% with regard to advancement opportunities 17