Ph.D.s unprepared for jobs

There is a "three-way mismatch" between Ph.D. students' goals, the training they receive and the actual careers they will enter, according to a study released Tuesday. The survey, directed by Chris Golde at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, questioned 4,000 doctoral students at Penn and 26 other universities across the country. The students surveyed came from 11 arts and sciences disciplines. The survey was sponsored by Pew Charitable Trusts. Answers to the 20-page survey suggested that Ph.D. students' goals are somewhat unrealistic given the tight job market in higher education, and that they are not adequately prepared for careers as professors. "The training doctoral students receive is not what they want, nor does it prepare them for the jobs they take," said the report, titled "At Cross Purposes: What the Experiences of Today's Doctoral Students Reveal About Doctoral Education." "Many students do not clearly understand what doctoral study entails, how the process works and how to navigate it effectively," the report continued. Over 40,000 Ph.D. degrees are granted annually, while the job market for full professors is growing at a much slower pace. One issue posed by the survey is that though most doctoral students enter Ph.D. programs hoping to become tenure-track faculty members, less than half of them will ever reach that goal. Part of the problem may be that graduate schools do not explain the scarcity of jobs clearly to prospective students, the report noted. Golde found that two-thirds of students hoped to become professors in the future -- and despite the limited market, most thought this was realistic. The problem may be aggravated by the fact that a stigma is often placed on jobs outside academe, Golde said. Because of the tight job market for professors, she said, Ph.D. students are forced to look elsewhere. Golde added she has heard comments like "People who go into industry -- it's like they died -- we never talk about them." The study showed that graduate students said they felt unprepared both for careers as professors or for careers outside of academe. "I think it's responsible for programs to be very explicit about what they do or don't do. They should be very upfront," Golde said of the educational goals of graduate schools. While many graduate students act as teaching assistants for classes, educational training is not a typical part of the curriculum, Golde noted. "It's really sort of a shocking thing that we don't spend a lot of time showing students how to be constructive teachers," she said. The study also showed that over half of the students -- all at least in their third year -- were unclear as to the criteria required to earn their degree, while a third were unsure of the length of time it would require. "I don't think anyone can fully grasp what it means [to get the degree]," Penn Art History Professor Christine Poggi said. "Most students just try to survive their first year. You can't do it as a completely goal-oriented thing that you're suffering through. People do it because they enjoy the process." Poggi emphasized that students in her department gain museum experience through internships, and classroom experience by teaching recitations as well as College of General Studies and Writing Across the University courses. But Graduate and Professional Student Association Chair Kyle Farley, a fourth-year history grad student, said that the department's expectations were clear to him. "In my department there's no mystery," Farley said. "I'm sure it's true in a lot of places, but it's not true for me, at Penn in [the] history [department]." Three quarters of students surveyed were satisfied with their experiences in doctoral programs.