Vol. 24., No. 11	December 23, 1998

A.A.U. Study Suggests Better Career Tracking for Ph.D.s

By Suzanne Trimel

Despite concerns that Ph.D.s may wind up in jobs for which they are overqualified, the employment outlook in the 1990's for new Ph.D.s is encouraging, according to a new report by the Association of American Universities (A.A.U.).

And, according to Dean Eduardo Macagno of Columbia's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the upswing in the Ph.D. job outlook reflects a strong demand in the booming economy for employees with sharp analytical skills.

A report issued in November by the association's Committee on Graduate Education examined many criticisms leveled at Ph.D. programs in recent years-that American universities award too many doctorates; train graduate students too narrowly; fail to take students' job prospects into account, and neglect their roles as academic mentors.

While the study acknowledged that leading research universities should do more to prepare graduates for a range of careers- knowing that not all will find faculty positions-it also defended the number of Ph.D.s awarded as a major benefit to American society. The report noted that less than 2 percent of those who earned Ph.D.s from A.A.U. institutions between 1991 and 1994 were unemployed in 1995.

"The fact of the matter is that this country needs better educated people and the skills acquired working toward the Ph.D.-in analysis, in research, in filtering and sythesizing information-are ideal in many influential areas," said Macagno, who served on the 15-member Committee on Graduate Education.

He said that while it is true that not all doctoral graduates will obtain jobs as academics, their education should not be thought of as wasted. "We certainly don't think of graduates of law school as having wasted their education when many, many will never practice law," he said.

Macagno did express concern over the increasing number of years it takes to earn the Ph.D., which has grown to eight to 10 years or more. "This is a problem that is sapping our resources," he said. The trend, he believes, is one that can be reversed but only if students and faculty alike come to the reasonable conclusion that a Ph.D. should be completed in no more than 7 years, and the thesis should be of a reasonable length. The 60 top American research universities that make up the A.A.U. represent just 16 percent of the nation's Ph.D.-granting universities, but graduate more than half, about 22,000, of the new Ph.D.'s earned in the United States every year.

Macagno said the group developed valuable guidelines for institutions to use in evaluating Ph.D. programs. Included among the recommendations are that institutions work to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed for a broad array of careers; that institutions maintain data on graduate job placement, and that institutions think carefully before beginning new programs to make sure there is a regional or national need.

Columbia already has moved on several of these fronts, said Macagno, citing programs at GSAS geared toward career planning and skills development, such as mock job interviews. He said GSAS alumni find teaching the Core Curriculum to be excellent preparation for jobs such as banking and consulting.

Departments have already begun record-keeping in the job placement area. The History Department has traced almost two-thirds of its Ph.D. graduates since 1971 and found in 1996-97 that 80 percent held positions in the academy. Among Columbia sociology Ph.D.'s over the last five years, 20 of 37 graduates held academic positions. Others held jobs in private and public research foundations.