The doctoral graduate earning premium
A comparison of earnings six months from graduation and three years later indicate that doctoral graduates in the UK enjoy a salary premium relative to masters and comparable first degree graduates (i.e. those with similar degree class attainment).
What do researchers do? Early career progression (2013) shows that doctoral graduates tend to have better salaries in their first jobs after graduation but also benefit from greater rises in salary from that time onwards, than those with lower degrees.
Surveyed in 2010, 3.5 years after graduation, 72% of doctoral graduate respondents were earning over £30,000 compared with 56% of masters graduates and 22% of first degree graduates (who obtained good grades).
