Subjective and objective professional success of PhD holders in Germany
Final Report Abstract
Research on the career paths of doctoral graduates in Germany has been scarce. This is surprising since Germany produces the largest number of doctorates in the EU. Previous analyses have largely focused on doctoral graduates who remain in academia and compete for the few permanent positions (mostly professorships) and on differences between doctoral graduates in cross-sectional analyses. The completed DFG project aimed to investigate 1) subjective and objective success criteria, 2) intra-individual and inter-individual differences in career success and 3) doctoral graduates inside and outside academia and also 4) to specifically promote doctoral research. For objectives 1–3, quantitative secondary data analyses were carried out using the longitudinal data from the DZHW doctoral panel, which was new at the start of the project. Subjective success criteria such as life satisfaction were considered as well as objective success criteria such as earned income (Objective 1) and intra-individual differences were identified as well as inter-individual differences (Objective 2). The consideration of career paths within and outside academia was also examined (Objective 3). The multifaceted results show, among other things, that the career goals of doctoral graduates are by no means limited to academic research. Only a small proportion of doctoral graduates work in the academic system after completing their doctorate. Jobs in the public sector and in the private sector are highly relevant for specific disciplines. Which career path is chosen depends, among other things, on individual preferences, objective labor market conditions, subjective career prospects and external support. Most doctoral graduates work in professional positions for which a doctorate can be used profitably. Nevertheless, switching to areas outside academia increases the risk of working in jobs that do not correspond to their qualifications. Nevertheless, switching to areas outside academia increases the risk of working in jobs that do not match qualifications. At the same time, those who switch to the private sector or the public sector (outside of universities) often benefit from other career advantages, such as permanent positions, which in turn have a positive effect on job satisfaction. With regard to social inequalities, there are clear gender differences in terms of wages, which can be (partially) explained by the doctoral subject, the sector and management positions, among other things. Long periods of parental leave have a negative impact on wages. Contrary to theoretical expectations, no intersectional effects of gender, social origin and migration background were observed in dropouts from academia. However, there are indications of gender inequalities in upstream dropout processes, i.e. dropping out of a doctorate. To promote doctoral research (Objective 4), the special issue “Career Paths Inside and Outside Academia” (Gross & Jaksztat 2024) was published by the journal Soziale Welt, which brings together high-quality studies on doctoral graduates, as well as upstream and downstream qualification levels, and is available open access and in English to the relevant international specialist community.
Publications
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Tätigkeitsbereiche und Berufszufriedenheit von Promovierten. Vortrag beim Workshop „Career Pathways and Decisions of PhD- Students and PhD-Holders”, DZHW, Hannover
Goldan, L., Gross, C. & Jaksztat, S.
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Back out or hang on? An Event history analysis of withdrawal from doctoral education in Germany. Online-Vortrag auf der gemeinsamen Frühjahrstagung der DGS-Sektionen "Soziale Ungleichheit und Sozialstrukturanalyse" und "Bildung und Erziehung", Bamberg, Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsverläufe
Jaksztat, S., Neugebauer, M. & Brandt, G.
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Berufswege nach der Promotion: Eine Frage subjektiver Nutzenerwartungen? Online-Vortrag im Forschungscluster Erträge Tertiärer Bildung, Deutsches Zentrum für Hochschul- und Wissenschaftsforschung
Jaksztat, S., Gross, C. & Goldan, L.
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Explaining the gender pay gap among doctoral graduates: analyses of the German labour market. European Journal of Higher Education, 11(2), 137-159.
Goldan, Lea
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Spielen soziale Vergleiche eine Rolle für die Berufszufriedenheit von Promovierten? Online-Vortrag im Forschungscluster Erträge Tertiärer Bildung, Deutsches Zentrum für Hochschul- und Wissenschaftsforschung
Goldan, L., Gross, C. & Jaksztat, S.
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Subjektiver und objektiver Berufserfolg von Promovierten in Deutschland. Vorstellung des DFG-Projekts. Online-Vortrag im Forschungscluster Erträge Tertiärer Bildung, Deutsches Zentrum für Hochschul- und Wissenschaftsforschung
Gross, C., Jaksztat, S. & Goldan, L.
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Back out or hang on? An event history analysis of withdrawal from doctoral education in Germany. Higher Education, 82(5), 937-958.
Jaksztat, Steffen; Neugebauer, Martin & Brandt, Gesche
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Explaining employment sector choices among doctoral graduates in Germany. Online-Vortrag bei der Jahrestagung der Society for Research into Higher Education (SRHE), Vereinigtes Königreich
Goldan, L., Jaksztat, S. & Gross, C.
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Explaining employment sector choices among doctoral graduates in Germany. Online-Vortrag bei der Lecture Series „Changing Academic Careers“ des Forschungsclusters Erträge Tertiärer Bildung, Deutsches Zentrum für Hochschul- und Wissenschaftsforschung, Hannover
Goldan, L., Jaksztat, S. & Gross, C.
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Explaining employment sector choices among doctoral graduates in Germany. Online-Vortrag beim dritten Forum „Higher Education and the Labour Market” (HELM), Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Nürnberg
Goldan, L., Jaksztat, S. & Gross, C.
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Explaining employment sector choices among doctoral graduates in Germany. Online-Vortrag beim International PhD Workshop „European Higher Education in Times of Uncertainty”, Hertie School, Berlin
Goldan, L., Jaksztat, S. & Gross, C.
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Explaining employment sector choices among doctoral graduates in Germany. Online-Vortrag im Research Seminar des Deutschen Zentrums für Hochschul- und Wissenschaftsforschung, Hannover
Goldan, L., Jaksztat, S. & Gross, C.
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How does being tenured affect the job satisfaction of doctoral graduates? Online-Vortrag bei der 4. Konferenz “Transitionen von der Erstausbildung ins Erwerbsleben” (TREE), Universität Bern, Schweiz
Jaksztat, S., Goldan, L. & Gross, C.
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How does being tenured affect the job satisfaction of doctoral graduates? Online-Vortrag beim dritten Kongress der Akademie für Soziologie, Universität Leipzig
Goldan, L., Jaksztat, S. & Gross, C.
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Intersectional inequalities in dropout from academia among doctoral graduates in Germany. Online-Vortrag bei der Summer School “Higher Education Research and Science Studies”, Leibniz Forschungszentrum Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft, Hannover
Goldan, L., Bohlen, A. & Gross, C.
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Intersektionale Ungleichheiten beim Verbleib in der Wissenschaft nach der Promotion. Online-Vortrag bei der 16. Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Hochschulforschung (GfHf), Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
Goldan, L., Bohlen, A. & Gross, C.
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And then there were none? Social and intersectional inequalities in dropout from academia after doctoral graduation. Online-Vortrag bei der Lecture Series „Changing Academic Careers II“ des Forschungsclusters „Erträge Tertiärer Bildung“, DZHW, Hannover
Goldan, L., Bohlen, A. & Gross, C.
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Explaining employment sector choices of doctoral graduates in Germany. Research Evaluation, 32(1), 144-156.
Goldan, Lea; Jaksztat, Steffen & Gross, Christiane
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How does obtaining a permanent employment contract affect the job satisfaction of doctoral graduates inside and outside academia?. Higher Education, 86(1), 185-208.
Goldan, Lea; Jaksztat, Steffen & Gross, Christiane
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Laufbahnintentionen, Tätigkeitsbereiche und Berufserfolg von Promovierten. Beiträge zur Hochschulforschung 44: 30–51
Goldan, L., S. Jaksztat & C. Gross
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Parental leaves after doctoral graduation: How do they affect wages of male and female doctoral graduates? Online-Vortrag beim Research Seminar des DZHW, Hannover
Jaksztat, S., Goldan, L. & Gross, C.
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Promotion und dann? Empirische Ergebnisse zu den Karrieren von Promovierten innerhalb und außerhalb der Wissenschaft. Online- Vortrag bei der 9. Tagung der Gesellschaft für Empirische Bildungsforschung (GEBF), Bamberg
Gross, C., Jaksztat, S. & Goldan, L.
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Wie wirkt sich eine Entfristung auf die Arbeitszufriedenheit von Promovierten innerhalb und außerhalb der Wissenschaft aus? Vortrag beim 41. Kongress der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie (DGS), Universität Bielefeld
Goldan, L., Jaksztat, S. & Gross, C.
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Modelling Intersectionality within Quantitative Research. sozialpolitik.ch.
Gross, Christiane & Goldan, Lea
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Parental leaves after doctoral graduation. How do they affect wages of male and female doctoral graduates? Vortrag beim 5. Forum „Higher Education and the Labour Market“, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung Nürnberg
Jaksztat, S., Goldan, L. & Gross, C.
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Academic careers inside and outside academia—an overview of topics and contributions. Career Paths Inside and Outside Academia, 9-19. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG.
Jaksztat, Steffen & Gross, Christiane
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Career Paths Inside and Outside Academia. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG.
Gross, Christiane & Jaksztat, Steffen
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Social inequalities in postdoctoral dropout from academia by gender, parental academic background, and migration background, and their intersections. Career Paths Inside and Outside Academia, 130-168. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG.
Goldan, Lea; Bohlen, Aaron & Gross, Christiane
