The growing pressure to 'publish or perish', experienced by academia around the world, has pushed an increasing number of individual graduate programmes and universities, as well as entire higher education systems, to introduce a publication requirement as a prerequisite for the conferral of doctoral degrees. One example of the implementation of…

Using a unique pan-European dataset, we rely on two alternative measures of over-education and control stepwise for four groups of covariates in order to interpret the over-education wage penalty in light of theoretical models. Firstly, it appears that a significant fraction (i.e. between 1/5 and 1/3) of PhD holders in Europe are genuinely…

Doctoral education in Europe has changed significantly in the last two to three decades. This transformation, visible in the structuring dimensions of doctoral education, appears to indicate a move to a more instrumental approach. This paper aims to determine the prevalence of an instrumental concept of doctoral education in Portuguese…

This study explores how doctoral graduates weigh considerations of employment sectors and cities in their career decision-making processes. Guided by Social Cognitive Career Theory and a Four-quadrant Model, researchers analysed interviews from 40 STEM doctoral graduates in China. Findings demonstrate that self-efficacy, outcome expectations and…

In this study, we explore the identity development of PhD graduates transitioning into non-researcher roles. Through the conceptual lens of identity-trajectory theory and based on interviews with 26 PhD graduates from three leading research universities in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, we analyse their identity-trajectory development after their…

In 2006, Schulman and colleagues made a call to "reclaim" education's doctorate (i.e., the EdD) by developing a robust professional practice doctoral degree with a distinctive scholarly base. Separate from its more traditional and research-intensive counterpart (i.e., the PhD), the EdD is intended to be more specifically tailored to and…

Despite the growth of the professional doctorate in education (EdD), its potential for capturing practice is restricted by academic tradition. In this hybrid paper, we argue that arts-based research (ABR) can help rectify this. We bookend the paper with creative non-fiction of our own EdD experiences, where ABR is restricted and afforded. We…

Prospective doctoral students face a daunting challenge choosing between Doctor of Education (EdD) programs and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Education due to programmatic ambiguity, inconsistency, and ill-defined career alignment (Carpenter, 1987; Perry, 2012; Shafer & Giblin, 2008). This qualitative study employed comparative analysis to…

A growing literature examines PhD graduates working beyond academia. These studies are critiqued for rarely addressing the sectoral and organisational structural factors that influence actual work. So, we examined how the non-academic, contextually situated, organisational job specifications of fifteen PhD graduates interacted with their daily…

Under the relentless neoliberalism, there is a growing claim that doctoral students have transformed into highly performative, enterprising, and self-reliant subjects in the current higher education landscape. Whilst this seems almost a truism to encapsulate the unprecedentedly competitive educational context in which the PhD is pursued, it is…

Ed.D. programs have grown in popularity over the past few decades. Utilizing a qualitative single case study approach, we explored students' motivations for pursuing an Ed.D. in higher education and their considerations related to program choice at a public research university in the midwestern United States. Data from our 14 interviews…

A growing international literature has recently focused on the employment outcomes of Ph.D. holders, nowadays considered a strategic resource able to improve innovation and growth in contemporary knowledge economies. This article adds to previous studies by analyzing job satisfaction determinants among Ph.D. graduates in Italy. Drawing on data…

This paper discusses perceptions regarding the roles of PhD- and MLS (or MLIS)-holding librarians within academic libraries in the United States gathered via a survey conducted in 2019. Based on a review of previous literature and the results of the survey--which present mixed opinions about PhD holders as librarians--the authors provide…

Physician assistants/associates (PAs) are regarded as valuable members of the healthcare team and work in a team-based collaborative model with physicians. In recent years, there has been a debate regarding the most appropriate entry-level and terminal degree for PAs and an urgency to explore optimal team practice. Due to the important…

Research educators, scholars, and employers often debate the nature and purpose of doctoral training. Should doctoral degrees exist only to make new knowledge and replenish the academic workforce or are they part of broader societal-enhancement and employment agendas? Or both? This study aimed to identify and analyse tensions in Australian…