The 10,000 PhDs project at the University of Toronto: Using employment outcome data to inform graduate education

Abstract

The purpose of the 10,000 PhDs Project was to determine the current (2016) employment status of the 10,886 individuals who graduated from the University of Toronto with a PhD in all disciplines from 2000–2015. Using internet searches, we found that about half (51%) of the PhD graduates are employed in the post-secondary education sector, 26% as tenure-track professors, with an additional 3% as adjunct professors and 2% as full-time teaching-stream professors. Over the time-period 2000–2015 there has been a near doubling in PhD graduates with the biggest increase in graduation numbers for the Physical (2.6–fold) and Life Sciences (2.2-fold). Increasingly, these graduates are finding employment in the private and public sectors providing the highly qualified personnel needed to drive an innovation economy.