by MARNIE HUGHES-WARRINGTON, PAT BUCKLEY,  INGER MEWBURN &

the ANU PostAC UNIVERSITY TEAM

It wasn’t a strong beginning. As startups go, you probably wouldn’t have rated it a chance. Just over 100 years ago, the modern doctorate was created as a destination degree for the worthy and the solid. Since then, it has remained the edgy member of the global degree suite, with some folks swearing by its intoxicating powers, and others wondering whether it is worth the effort.

Well, as we know, some startups flounder and fall over quickly, and others morph and hit their stride after a slow start. The doctorate is just starting to hit its stride, and it is important to continue to nudge it in the direction of success. That success flows—like any good start up—from knowing who it is for, and adaptation.

If you are starting to form knitted brows, it is possibly because you think that the doctorate serves one purpose: to educate future academics. But if you reframe your reckoning and acknowledge the broader demand for PhD graduates across business, not for profit, government and academic destinations, then the prospects for the degree look different.

The University of South Australia asked the PostAc team at ANU to analyse over 3 million job ads posted across Australia and within South Australia between 2017 and 2020. In 2017 there were 12 potential jobs for every research degree graduate. In the first quarter of 2020—as you would expect—the job market plunged, but it started to regain ground and hit around 2 potential jobs for every research degree graduate by mid-year.

 

Backing research capability really matters for our economy, and for broader society, particularly at this time. Part of that backing is understanding the enterprising nature of the PhD, and its market, talking about it slightly differently, and nudging its training requirements.

You have to start by acknowledging that you likely won’t see “has PhD” in the essential criteria for most jobs. Organisations do want research-degree graduates on account of the capabilities they develop through innovation in disciplinary or interdisciplinary knowledge. Pause for a moment and consider what would be on your capabilities wish list for PhD graduates. Then ask yourself whether they coincide with this 3-million job employer top 20 wish list from the UniSA/PostAc report:

1.     Building relationships	2.     Communication skills
3.     Planning	4.     Teamwork and collaboration
5.     Project management	6.     Stakeholder management
7.     Problem solving	8.     Business acumen
9.     Budgeting	10.  Organisation and time management skills
11.  Creativity	12.  Detail oriented
13.  Leadership	14.  Change management
15.  Mentoring	16.  Business development
17.  Decision making	18.  Risk management
19.  Customer service	20.  Data analysis

Consider, in turn, how well this list lines up in intent or in language with the Australian Qualifications Framework Level 10 Descriptors. Knowledge looms large in the AQF descriptors, as do autonomy and dissemination to other people. You need to know things, to think for yourself and to be able to explain things to other people. Employers—including university employers—might rightly want to see other capabilities emphasised, such as the need to forge and sustain collaborations; to mentor other people, to work through change with creative capabilities; to understand how to identify and strategise with risks; and to demonstrate computational thinking. These are also the right skills for founders of startups, too.

We should not assume that any one cluster of disciplines delivers these capabilities in spades. Take a look at the compound growth or loss of opportunities for research degree graduates from 2017–20.

ANZSIC	First half 2020	2019	2018	2017	Average – normal	% jobs first half 2020
State Government Administration	245	731	475	224	477	103%
Hospitals (Except Psychiatric Hospitals)	161	411	259	224	298	108%
Computer System Design and Related Services	94	246	139	150	178	105%
Engineering Design and Engineering Consulting Services	70	227	244	248	240	58%
Other Transport Equipment Manufacturing n.e.c.	52	206	17	59	94	111%
Banking	75	180	167	158	168	89%
Accounting Services	39	125	116	181	141	55%
Central Government Administration	23	117	89	87	98	47%
Scientific Research Services	11	115	159	141	138	16%
Local Government Administration	15	110	64	113	96	31%
Aircraft Manufacturing and Repair Services	14	80	33	13	42	67%
Water Supply	1	79	55	83	72	3%
Oil and Gas Extraction	16	75	22	13	37	87%
Other Social Assistance Services	71	60	31	54	48	294%
General Insurance	15	53	46	36	45	67%
Shipbuilding and Repair Services	10	52	96	118	89	23%
Other Machinery and Equipment Repair and Maintenance	5	52	18	33	34	29%
Investigation and Security Services	26	44	21	15	27	195%
Supermarket and Grocery Stores	22	42	13	28	28	159%
Other Telecommunications Network Operation	15	37	35	26	33	92%
Public Administration	14	37	20	21	26	108%
Credit Union Operation	11	33	6	1	13	165%
Management Advice and Related Consulting Services	47	31	14	29	25	381%
Mining	5	30	32	27	30	34%
Other Health Care Services n.e.c.	5	28	15	22	22	46%
Iron Ore Mining	3	27	36	94	52	11%
Gas Supply	0	26	9	4	13	0%
Defence	11	25	78	79	61	36%
Depository Financial Intermediation	6	25	8	28	20	59%
Electricity Distribution	4	24	22	14	20	40%
Health Care and Social Assistance	25	23	28	24	25	200%
Other Heavy and Civil Engineering Construction	16	21	22	72	38	83%
Other Agriculture and Fishing Support Services	14	21	17	21	20	142%
Pharmaceutical, Cosmetic and Toiletry Goods Retailing	2	19	14	9	14	29%
Electricity Supply	6	17	31	21	23	52%
Paper Bag Manufacturing	3	17	2	9	9	64%
Education and Training	5	16	11	5	11	94%
Special School Education	0	14	16	0	10	0%
Educational Support Services	1	13	5	3	7	29%
Legal Services	5	12	22	23	19	53%
Pharmaceutical and Toiletry Goods Wholesaling	4	12	21	12	15	53%
General Practice Medical Services	2	11	18	26	18	22%
Wine and Other Alcoholic Beverage Manufacturing	4	11	17	14	14	57%
Air and Space Transport	2	11	11	2	8	50%
Insurance and Superannuation Funds	2	11	6	6	8	52%
Other Public Order and Safety Services	6	11	7	3	7	171%
Cement and Lime Manufacturing	0	11	9	1	7	0%
Secondary Education	1	11	5	3	6	32%
Newspaper Publishing	0	11	0	0	4	0%

Consider, in turn, how well this list lines up in intent or in language with the Australian Qualifications Framework Level 10 Descriptors. Knowledge looms large in the AQF descriptors, as do autonomy and dissemination to other people. You need to know things, to think for yourself and to be able to explain things to other people. Employers—including university employers—might rightly want to see other capabilities emphasised, such as the need to forge and sustain collaborations; to mentor other people, to work through change with creative capabilities; to understand how to identify and strategise with risks; and to demonstrate computational thinking. These are also the right skills for founders of startups, too.

We should not assume that any one cluster of disciplines delivers these capabilities in spades. Take a look at the compound growth or loss of opportunities for research degree graduates from 2017–20 (scroll up).

Australia’s traditional business strengths in finance, services and energy shine through. As argued in Marnie’s previous UniSA blog, these old-new industries are driving innovations in areas such as cybersecurity, digital supply-chain management, and personalisation.

It is timely to consider the emphasis we place on particular capabilities in PhD training and academic development. And it is also important to ask how we might help the PhD to lean more into the future by making some fine-tuned adjustments to admissions, training, and the nature of the thesis.

At the University of South Australia, we have introduced the Project-based PhD as part of the Enterprise Hub initiative. It’s a slight adaptation to more traditional approaches, beginning with admissions. Rather than wait for individual students to come to our door—and treating them to the slowest admissions process for any kind of degree—we have switched to a recruitment model in which they apply to be a part of a project team, or to propose a project for a team. Training is being optimised to focus on the capabilities and futures orientation that great employees, founders, and academics need. Slight adjustments to the thesis model must be our next consideration, and specifically, providing all students with enhanced opportunities to disseminate and further build the impact of their work. How can dissertation format and mode step up to the challenge of broadened conceptions of the PhD?

The PhD is a 100-year start-up poised for the next transformation.

***

Marnie Hughes-Warrington is DVC, Research and Enterprise at the University of South Australia.

Pat Buckley is Dean of Graduate Studies at Uni SA.

Inger Mewburn is Director, Research Training at ANU’s College of Asa and the Pacific.

ANU’s PostAc University team have an app, to ” help PhD students into non-academic research careers”.