I was struck by a point made by a colleague at the meeting this morning of the Doctoral Research and Development Committee (which oversees postgraduate training and postdoctoral career development).  Apparently a survey has shown that over 80% of new postgraduate research students express the aim to become university lecturers.

Something I have always done with my postgraduate students is to try to broaden their horizons. I have sent them on courses on enterprise, even when they were reluctant to do so. I have tried to interest them in applying for posts in the civil service. I have sought to extend their interests and research experience well beyond the actual thesis topic they are working on. Such a high proportion of PhD students aiming for an academic career seems unfortunate to me.  The demographics of the situation suggest that many will not achieve that ambition and will then possibly feel a failure. There are many areas of life where the analytical and other skills of a well-rounded PhD graduate are of great importance.  And there are very substantial research careers to be pursued outside academia.

In addition the Council for Industry in Higher Education recently produced a report in which many employers indicated that they found a lot of PhD graduates to be less immediately employable than those entering with undergraduate or taught postgraduate qualifications. They had become too narrowly focused on their research topic, unwilling to see the bigger picture, too motivated by their own interests and not prepared to prioritise the needs of their employer. I guess many of these PhD employees are those who failed to get into academic careers and are therefroe somewhat de-motivated.

When I was mid career a colleague from another university once asked how many PhD students I had supervised to completion, and how many had lectureships.  When I gave a number greater than one for the second question he said 'you can stop PhD supervision now - you've more than replaced yourself in academia and ensured continuity in your subject'.  I have ignored his advice.

But the point made at the meeting this morning led me to muse on the outcomes of my research students, of whom there have now been around 25. Less than half have gone into university posts (some now at senior levels, including a Professor working in a Japanese university), and some that did so with enthusiasm later decided that such a career was not for them.  But amongst the others there have been some very worthwhile cases of research skills and knowledge being turned into very varied careers - the Company Secretary of the biggest baby goods firm in Germany, a genetic counsellor, an organiser of home education, a consultant to one of the Directorates-General of the European Union, a senior civil servant in the Department of Education, as well as someone who now runs her own catering business.

With the increased emphasis on skills training for research students, and the introduction of employment awareness from the start of their period of registration, I hope future PhDs will see much broader possibilities opening out for them, in more varied fields, than those in the survey reported this morning.