5. INVESTING IN THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY
5.5. Employment of doctorate holders
A country s capacity to engage human resources into
Sources
innovation depends on the attractiveness of its
OECD, UNESCO Institute for Statistics and Eurostat
research jobs. Doctorate holders have a research qual-
data collection on careers of doctorate holders,
ification and are a pillar of the research system. Their
2007 and 2009.
employment is an indicator of a country s capability to
generate new knowledge and innovation.
OECD, Educational Attainment Database, 2009.
Employment of the 1990-2006 doctoral graduates
OECD, Main Science and Technology Indicators, May 2009.
ranges from 93% to 98% and exceeds that of university
OECD, Labour Force Survey (LFS) Database, 2009.
graduates. Holders of doctoral degrees in the humani-
Eurostat, 2009.
ties, especially in Belgium, Denmark and Austria
have less favourable prospects than those in other
fields. The female employment rate is much lower
Going further
than the male rate in Austria, Germany, the United
States and Cyprus, where female inactivity exceeds
Auriol, L. (2007),  Labour Market Characteristics and
unemployment.
International Mobility of Doctorate Holders: Results
for Seven Countries , OECD Science, Technology and
The majority of doctorate holders are employed in the
Industry Working Papers 2007/2, OECD, Paris,
higher education and government sectors, particu-
www.oecd.org/sti/cdh.
larly so in Portugal, Poland and Bulgaria. Over a third
works in the business sector in Austria, Australia, the
Auriol, L., B. Felix and E. Fernandez-Polcuch (2007),
United States and Belgium. The bulk of the holders of
 Mapping Careers and Mobility of Doctorate Holders:
a research qualification participate in research activi-
Draft Guidelines, Model Questionnaire and Indica-
ties, but to a lesser extent in Austria and Belgium.
tors , OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working
Papers 2007/6, OECD, Paris, www.oecd.org/sti/cdh.
Many doctorate holders face temporary employment
in the early stage of their careers. They can, in partic-
ular, be employed in postdoc positions for several
Figure notes
years. After five years of activity, 60% of doctorate
holders in the Slovak Republic and over 45% in
For the Czech Republic, the employment rate of doc-
Belgium, Germany and Spain are still under tempo-
torate holders is overestimated. Czech doctorate
rary contracts. Yet permanent engagements account
holders who graduated before 1999 and were not
for over 80% of all jobs in most countries.
employed in 2006 are excluded. The US data do not
cover doctorate holders in humanities and some
social sciences (education, law, communication).
Populations are in headcounts except researchers in
CDH guidelines
Australia and the United States who are full-time
equivalents. For Romania, the share of the higher edu-
The Careers of Doctorate Holders project (CDH)
cation and government sectors in doctorate holders
is a joint OECD-Eurostat-UNESCO Institute for
employment is overestimated. Those working in
Statistics project initiated in 2004 to develop a
small firms with fewer than 250 employees are not
harmonised system of indicators on the careers
included. In Portugal, the share of higher and govern-
and international mobility of doctorate holders.
ment employment is probably overestimated.
Doctorate holders are defined as all residents
Doctorate holders on temporary contracts over career
below 70 years old, economically active or not,
path: Data on median age of recent doctorate recipi-
who have completed ISCED level 6 education
ents at graduation refer to doctorate recipients within
anywhere in the world. Owing to country differ-
the past two years.
ences in population coverage, the data
presented here only include doctoral graduates
from 1990 onwards. Temporary employment is
work under a fixed-term contract in contrast to
permanent work (without an end date). Employ-
ees under temporary contract are often not
eligible for the same conditions, in particular in
terms of employment protection.
OECD SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD 2009 © OECD 2009
140
5. INVESTING IN THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY
5.5. Employment of doctorate holders
Employment rate of doctorate holders by field of doctorate award, 2006
As a percentage of total doctorate holders
Natural sciences Engineering Medical sciences Agricultural sciences
Social sciences Humanities Total fields of study Employment rate of women doctorate holders (%)
%
83.5 85.1 86.4 89.1 82.7 87.0 87.9 83.7 83.4 85.5 85.2 86.8
100
Employment rate of university graduates (%)
98
96
94
92
90
88
86
84
1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/746684788824
Employment of doctorate holders in the higher Doctorate holders on temporary contracts over
education and government sectors and participation career path, 2006
in research activities, 2006
As a percentage of employed doctorate holders As a percentage of employed doctorate holders
Share of doctorate holders employed in the higher Graduate at doctorate level for 5 years or less
education and government sectors
Graduate at doctorate level for more than 5 years
Share of researchers employed in the higher
education and government sectors
Share of R&D performed by the higher education
Slovak Republic 31
and government sectors
Czech Republic 39
Portugal
82.0
Belgium (2005) 29
Poland
86.2
Spain 32
Bulgaria
78.3
Germany n.a.
Slovak Republic
64.3
Portugal 38
Romania
47.0
Spain 33
70.5 Denmark
Latvia 80.6
Austria 31
Median age at graduation
Lithuania 80.8
for recent doctorate
Estonia 33
recipients
Czech Republic 65.8
Iceland 33
Estonia 82.3
32
Cyprus
Cyprus 69.7
38
Bulgaria
67.8
United States Percentage of all employees
under temporary contract
n.a.
Lithuania
51.1
Belgium (2005)
Doctorate holders
38
Romania
n.a.
Australia
working as
researchers (%)
33
57.0 Latvia
Austria
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
% %
1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/746724506041
1 2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/746685132680
OECD SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRY SCOREBOARD 2009 © OECD 2009
141
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