Getting a PhD might be the height of academic achievement, but outside the walls of Canadian universities this level of education isn’t paying off in employability and salary.
Canada received a failing grade on a recent report measuring the production of PhD graduates – an issue that if not addressed may leave the nation behind in innovation and research.
Last week The Conference Board of Canada, a not-for-profit applied research organization, released “How Canada Performs – Education and Skills Rankings,” which compares Canada to 16 other developed countries.
While Canada received an ‘A’ overall, it was doled out a ‘D’ grade on the indicator measuring PhD graduates. The leading country is Sweden, which has a PhD graduation rate that is three and a half times greater than Canada’s.
While it is difficult to determine why Canada falls behind the pack, Linda Miller, the University of Western Ontario Vice-Provost (Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies), says it a major concern if Canada wants to remain globally competitive.
“It’s certainly going to make us a less innovative country. I don’t think you will see Canada as a place that is targeted for where to locate new and novel industry,” says Miller. “If we are not drawing on the PhD skill and knowledge that we have available to us and increasing that, then we are clearly losing opportunities.”
The report reinforces the need for political decisions such as recent investments by the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to increase PhD enrolments. Similarly, Western has named graduate expansion as among its top priorities.
“From the Ontario perspective, we are at least now recognizing we need to do something about it,” she says. “The concern and the emphasis from the provincial government’s perspective in terms of wanting to see Canada’s profile in research and innovation increased.”
Western hopes to capitalize on funding opportunities for graduate expansion, as well as grow as a research-intensive university.
In a 2009 statistical report released by the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies, Western ranked 7th nationally out of 49 Canadian institutions for the number of PhD students enrolled in its programs (1,449 students). The report is based on enrolment in 2006.
However, these enrolment numbers are outdated. As of January, Western increased enrolment to 1,771 PhD students — up 22 per cent since 2006.
“The push is still on for growth, particularly at the PhD level.”
Nationwide, the “How Canada Performs” ranking reports Canada increased its number of PhD graduates by eight per cent in 2007. But, this modest increase is still not enough to raise its grade.
Partly to blame for the low number of PhD graduates is the relative absence of employment and pay incentives for those with a PhD compared to other countries.
“This is an area where we do lag behind some other countries. We still tend to think of PhDs as being the degree that leads to an academic career and we tend not to think of careers outside of academia for PhD grads,” says Miller.
As well, there have been very few increases in research support funding over the past several years.
“At the end of the day, we have not seen any substantial increase in any kind of research support money or any funding for students that comes in the form of research money or scholarships, so that is a bit of an issue as we are looking at expanding.”
With less than half of PhD graduates continuing in academic careers, Western is taking a proactive approach to connect potential employers with graduate students, such as hosting career fairs.
In addition to the disciplinary knowledge and expert skills at researching that PhD students acquire, they also develop a strong set of communication and leadership skills ideal for work in government and public sectors, and private industry, notes Miller.
To view the full Conference Board of Canada report visit www.conferenceboard.ca.
Post PhD
The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies is hosting several events and career workshops to help students transition to careers both within and outside the university.
The next event is on Tuesday, Jan. 29 titled “Preparing Your Curriculum Vitae and Personal Statements,” held 12:30-2 p.m. at the University Community Centre, Room 210.