The 10,000 PhDs project at the University of Toronto: Using employment outcome data to inform graduate education

PLoS One. 2019 Jan 16;14(1):e0209898. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0209898. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

The purpose of the 10,000 PhDs Project was to determine the current (2016) employment status of the 10,886 individuals who graduated from the University of Toronto with a PhD in all disciplines from 2000-2015. Using internet searches, we found that about half (51%) of the PhD graduates are employed in the post-secondary education sector, 26% as tenure-track professors, with an additional 3% as adjunct professors and 2% as full-time teaching-stream professors. Over the time-period 2000-2015 there has been a near doubling in PhD graduates with the biggest increase in graduation numbers for the Physical (2.6-fold) and Life Sciences (2.2-fold). Increasingly, these graduates are finding employment in the private and public sectors providing the highly qualified personnel needed to drive an innovation economy.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Biological Science Disciplines*
  • Career Choice*
  • Education, Graduate*
  • Employment*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Ontario
  • Public Sector*

Grants and funding

The 10,000 PhDs Project was an initiative of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto, that provided internal funding for this project.