By Dr Janet Metcalfe, Chair and Head of Vitae
First published in Academy Exchange No 9: The postgraduate student experience
The role and nature of the doctoral degree in the UK has been the subject of ongoing debate since it was introduced in 1917. However, in the last 20 years there have been an increasing number and range of drivers impacting on the doctorate as an academic award. The very nature of research has changed: the growth of technology and remote networks ensure that it is now truly a global endeavour and there is an emphasis on working between and across traditional disciplines. Increasingly, government and funders want to see the application and impact of academic research, along with the communication of research to wider audiences. The traditional doctorate model of a student-supervisor relationship working towards a piece of original research inevitably looks somewhat tired against these challenges.
Perhaps the strongest driver is the recognition that, with the emergence of the Asian economies, the UK economy will only thrive globally if it transforms itself into a knowledge economy. Researchers are seen as key to this transformation. In the UK we have seen the importance of the knowledge economy and the role of UK universities highlighted most recently in Higher Ambitions and the Leitch Review, which recognized the value of higher level skills, including PhDs.
‘ ... higher level skills are key drivers of innovation, entrepreneurship, management,
leadership and research and development critical to a high skills, high performance
economy increasingly in demand from high performance, global employers.'
If the knowledge-based economy is to succeed, then all employment sectors will need the types of higher level skill that come from postgraduate study. However, possession of a doctoral degree does not automatically improve employment prospects. A researcher's aspirations, ability, drive, luck and persistence, the area of study and experience, the state of the employment market, all play a role. A recent Vitae survey of employers demonstrates a diverse range of perceptions of the value of researchers' skill sets dependent on how engaged employers are in recruiting doctoral graduates. This reinforces a previous review of the literature into employers' views of the skills of early career researchers, including doctoral graduates, which demonstrated a diverse range of informed and uninformed views about their value as employees.
Generally, employers who have experience of employing doctoral graduates are more likely to be informed about and appreciate the skills and qualities they have, particularly their problem solving abilities, drive and motivation, leadership and project management. Employers who do not recruit doctoral graduates are more likely to have stereotypical views of a lack of interpersonal skills, being overqualified and having narrow interests. There were consistent messages in the literature review, however, of a general lack of commercial awareness and the importance of doctoral graduates being able to make swift and effective transitions between working cultures: to hit the ground running.
The employability of doctoral graduates is a key issue. Over half of UK-domiciled doctoral graduates find employment outside the higher education sector. Whether this is by choice or necessity, it beholds academia to recognise the importance of preparing doctoral graduates for wider employability. The Academy's Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES) found that research students rated career and personal development planning less positively than other aspects of their doctoral programmes. Less that 40% of them agreed that they were ‘encouraged to think about the range of career opportunities that are available' or to reflect on their career development needs.
Research training and employability are not mutually exclusive. Empowering researchers to take ownership of their personal and professional development is entirely consistent with research degree programmes aims to develop independent, autonomous researchers who are capable of producing original research.
A number of employability-related developments have taken place in UK higher education recently that have had impacts on research degree programmes. Arguably the most influential is the report by Sir Gareth Roberts, SET for success: the supply of people with science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills (HM Treasury, 2002). That report made several recommendations that relate to the development of employability in doctoral researchers, particularly in terms of embedding transferable skills training within research degree programmes. For researchers funded by the research councils, HEIs received additional funding to deliver skills development programmes.
The ethos of embedding skills development within research degree programmes has also been recognised by the Quality Assurance Agency in its revision of Section One of the Code of practice (QAA, 2004). The Code recognises that doctoral researchers ‘need support to develop the research, subject specific, communication, and other skills they require to become effective researchers, to enhance their employability and assist their career progress after completion of their degree. Development and application of such skills is also understood to be significant in the research graduate's capability for sustaining learning throughout his or her career, whether in an academic role, or in other employment.'
Institutions have responded by creating more structured doctoral programmes, with more formalised requirements, responsibility and accountability, replacing an often-localised approach influenced by departmental practices and individual supervisors. The ‘Roberts agenda' has catalysed significant growth in the quality, quantity and availability of development opportunities for researchers. At the same time, however, we have seen also a diversification in demographics and motivations of doctoral researchers, reflected in the growth of part-time and mature doctoral researchers.
Institutions now face considerable financial challenges, including the potential ending of the ring-fenced funding associated with the Roberts agenda. If the employability agenda is to move significantly forward for doctoral researchers andultimately to benefit the UK economy, HEIs face a serious challenge - they need to have a strategic, institution-wide approach that has commitment and responsibility at senior level and makes best use of limited resources and funding. Increasingly, HEIs are looking at ways in which to leverage limited funding, including exploring collaborations with other HEIs in their region.
However, given the individualistic nature of researchers and the need for people to take charge of their own learning throughout their lifetime, there is value in placing more ownership of training in thehands of the researcher. The current development of the Researcher Development Framework (RDF), led by Vitae on behalf of the sector, aims to be the underpinning framework for researcher development in UK HEIs. The RDF is a tool for planning, promoting and supporting the personal, professional and career development of researchers in higher education. It describes the knowledge, skills, behaviours and personal qualities of researchers and encourages researchers to aspire to excellence through achieving higher levels of development.
Although the RDF is primarily designed as a professional development tool for individual researchers, funders, HEIs and other organizations interested in developing researchers will find it useful when they reflect on their strategic approach to supporting researchers and associated provision.
As the ‘skills agenda' matures HEIs are looking at more creative ways of providing development opportunities for doctoral researchers. The Vitae database of practice, containing over 600 examples of skills development practices within UK institutions, increasingly has examples of initiatives where researchers are taking responsibility for designing development activities and interventions (as Debbie McVitty describes in her article in this issue). These include designing and developing conferences, public engagement activities and social and economic entrepreneurship. There is encouraging evidence that the ‘skills agenda' may transform the way doctoral researchers engage in the economy and society in terms of knowledge transfer, out-reach activities, entrepreneurship and ultimately social and economic impact. The work of the Impact and Evaluation Group (previously the Rugby Team) is identifying further evidence of the value and impact of developing researchers' skills and the benefits to their employability.
Download and read a full copy of the Academy Exchange No 9: The postgraduate student experience
Further Information
The role of Vitae is to work with UK higher education institutions to embed professional and career development in the research environment. Vitae plays a major role in innovating, sharing practice and enhancing the capability of the higher education sector to provide professional development and training of researchers.
Vitae is supported by Research Councils UK, (RCUK), managed by CRAC: The Career Development Organisation and delivered in partnership with regional Hub host universities.
Higher Ambitions, BIS, Nov 2009
Leitch Review of Skills, BIS, Dec 2006
Recruiting researchers survey of employer practice, Vitae, 2009
Employers' views of researchers' skills, Rugby Team, 2007
What do researchers do? Vitae, 2009
Lessons from PRES, the Higher Education Academy, 2009
The Rugby Team Impact Framework: one year on, Rugby Team (now Impact and Evaluation Group), Sep 2009
A number of the recommendations of the Smith Report relate directly to skills development and employability, including those which expect HEIs "to be more proactive in providing postgraduates with the opportunity to develop the core competencies they need to succeed in a competitive job market" (para 18), to "ensure that transferable skills training is embedded as standard in the funding and design of all postgraduate research programmes" (para 19) and to "work closely with Vitae, employers and other stakeholders to provide better information, advice and guidance on career choices for postgraduate research students" (para 19). Other recommendations focus on establishing "employer needs for postgraduate skills" (para 30) and identifying "how and where to fund provision that responds to employer needs for postgraduate skills" (para 34).