Hawkes, Denise ORCID: 0000-0002-7305-3846 and Grianza, Aleksandra (2019) A systematic literature review of economic benefits of doctorates in the UK. Work Based Learning e-Journal International, 8 (2).

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Abstract

Following human capital theory, the investment in education should result in wage gains over time and increased productivity. Thuswise, some governments became more active in stimulating citizens into pursuing advanced degrees by introducing loans and other support schemes. British policy makers went further by first launching graduate loans for students pursuing Master degrees followed by announcing the loan scheme for PhD students to start in 2018. Will keeping more young professionals away from joining the labour force and increasing their educational debt pay off in economic terms for those students? This systematic literature review is motivated by the possible contradiction in governmental objective to increase the number of doctoral students, while their ability to find the jobs which fit their qualifications and payment expectations might be questioned.

This review shows that systematic data on doctoral graduates and the labour market is quite limited, with employers outside academia mostly being unsatisfied with lack of ‘commercial awareness’, flexibility and adaptivity to new environments in young PhD degree holders. At the same time the role of the degree and expectations coming with it are changing and doctorate students are expected not only to produce a thesis, but to teach, publish papers and develop transferable skills.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	impact of PhDs, economic benefits of a degree, doctoral education
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Business Faculty of Business > Centre for Work and Employment Research (CREW) Faculty of Business > Department of International Business & Economics
Last Modified:	06 Apr 2021 18:14
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/32061

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