Employability and doctoral research postgraduates

Abstract

This publication is one in a series of publications on ‘Learning and Employability’. It is for anyone who is engaged in running doctoral research degree programmes, particularly supervisors. The intention is to demonstrate the relevance of employability for doctoral researchers (PhD is used throughout the document as a shorthand for all doctoral candidates), and what can be done in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to support the development of employability. The publication presents an overview of the importance of postgraduate researchers to the nation’s economic health, the nature of the PhD qualification and where PhDs are employed. It explores the synergy between the research degree programme, the development of skills and PhD graduates’ subsequent employability. It highlights how recent national initiatives, particularly the use of personal development planning (PDP) within research degree programmes, have recognised these inter-relationships, and it provides a checklist of how institutions, research communities and particularly supervisory teams may wish to support the development of researchers’ skills and hence their subsequent employability.