IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/reihed/v61y2020i2d10.1007_s11162-019-09584-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

University and Department Influences on Scientists’ Occupational Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Jeongeun Kim

    (Arizona State University)

  • Molly Ott

    (Arizona State University)

  • Lindsey Dippold

    (Arizona State University)

Abstract

Over 50,000 Ph.D. degrees in Science and Engineering (S&E) are awarded annually by United States (U.S.) universities, but few studies have systematically considered how the various aspects of doctoral training can influence the occupational outcomes of S&E doctoral graduates. This inquiry draws from the National Science Foundation’s Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System to investigate how the characteristics of U.S. degree-granting departments and institutions are associated with doctoral graduates’ entrance into different career sectors (i.e., academia, industry, government). The conceptual framework is based on the Scientific and Technical Human Capital theory (Bozeman et al. in Int J Technol Manag 22(7–8):716–740, 2001) as well as Berger and Milem’s (Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, Agathon Press, New York, 2000) model of college impact. We find that a number of university and department factors are associated with the career choice of S&E doctoral graduates after finishing their Ph.D including: (a) structural characteristics, such as geographic location and faculty composition, (b) organizational behaviors, such as those symbolizing a program’s relative emphasis on traditional academic work versus activities valued in industry, and (c) peer group characteristics such as a department’s proportion of female and minority Ph.D. students. These results will be particularly informative for policy makers, faculty and administrators in S&E programs, and prospective doctoral students.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeongeun Kim & Molly Ott & Lindsey Dippold, 2020. "University and Department Influences on Scientists’ Occupational Outcomes," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 61(2), pages 197-228, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:reihed:v:61:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s11162-019-09584-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11162-019-09584-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11162-019-09584-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11162-019-09584-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marvin A. Titus, 2006. "Understanding the Influence of the Financial Context of Institutions on Student Persistence at Four-Year Colleges and Universities," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 77(2), pages 353-375, March.
    2. Nicola Curtin & Janet Malley & Abigail J. Stewart, 2016. "Mentoring the Next Generation of Faculty: Supporting Academic Career Aspirations Among Doctoral Students," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 57(6), pages 714-738, September.
    3. Geuna, Aldo & Shibayama, Sotaro, 2015. "Moving Out Of Academic Research: Why Scientists Stop Doing Research?," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201501, University of Turin.
    4. Richard C. Larson & Navid Ghaffarzadegan & Yi Xue, 2014. "Too Many PhD Graduates or Too Few Academic Job Openings: The Basic Reproductive Number R0 in Academia," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(6), pages 745-750, November.
    5. Mangematin, V., 2000. "PhD job market: professional trajectories and incentives during the PhD," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 741-756, June.
    6. Hannelore Grande & Katrien Boyser & Karen Vandevelde & Ronan Rossem, 2014. "From Academia to Industry: Are Doctorate Holders Ready?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 5(3), pages 538-561, September.
    7. David Cyranoski & Natasha Gilbert & Heidi Ledford & Anjali Nayar & Mohammed Yahia, 2011. "Education: The PhD factory," Nature, Nature, vol. 472(7343), pages 276-279, April.
    8. Celis, Sergio & Kim, Jeongeun, 2018. "The making of homophilic networks in international research collaborations: A global perspective from Chilean and Korean engineering," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 573-582.
    9. Monica Gaughan & Stéphane Robin, 2004. "National science training policy and early scientific careers in France and the United States," Post-Print hal-00279013, HAL.
    10. Henry Sauermann & Paula Stephan, 2013. "Conflicting Logics? A Multidimensional View of Industrial and Academic Science," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 889-909, June.
    11. Debackere, Koenraad & Rappa, Michael A., 1995. "Scientists at major and minor universities: mobility along the prestige continuum," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 137-150, January.
    12. Janet Bercovitz & Maryann Feldman, 2008. "Academic Entrepreneurs: Organizational Change at the Individual Level," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 69-89, February.
    13. Hottenrott, Hanna & Lawson, Cornelia, 2014. "Flying the nest: How the home department shapes researchers’ career paths," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201409, University of Turin.
    14. Sauermann, Henry & Roach, Michael, 2014. "Not all scientists pay to be scientists: PhDs’ preferences for publishing in industrial employment," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 32-47.
    15. Barry Bozeman & Daniel Fay & Catherine Slade, 2013. "Research collaboration in universities and academic entrepreneurship: the-state-of-the-art," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 1-67, February.
    16. Rajshree Agarwal & Atsushi Ohyama, 2013. "Industry or Academia, Basic or Applied? Career Choices and Earnings Trajectories of Scientists," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(4), pages 950-970, April.
    17. Valerie Smeets & Frédèric warzynski & Tom Coupé, 2006. "Does the Academic Labor Market Initially Allocate New Graduates Efficiently?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 161-172, Summer.
    18. Nicholas A. Bowman & KC Culver, 2018. "When Do Honors Programs Make the Grade? Conditional Effects on College Satisfaction, Achievement, Retention, and Graduation," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(3), pages 249-272, May.
    19. Henry Sauermann & Michael Roach, 2012. "Science PhD Career Preferences: Levels, Changes, and Advisor Encouragement," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(5), pages 1-9, May.
    20. Paula Stephan, 2007. "Wrapping It Up in a Person: The Mobility Patterns of New PhDs," NBER Chapters, in: Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 7, pages 71-98, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    21. Eric S. Lin & Shih-Yung Chiu, 2016. "Does Holding a Postdoctoral Position Bring Benefits for Advancing to Academia?," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 57(3), pages 335-362, May.
    22. Conti, Annamaria & Visentin, Fabiana, 2015. "A revealed preference analysis of PhD students’ choices over employment outcomes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1931-1947.
    23. Michael Fritsch & Stefan Krabel, 2012. "Ready to leave the ivory tower?: Academic scientists’ appeal to work in the private sector," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 271-296, June.
    24. Gloria Crisp & Erin Doran & Nicole A. Salis Reyes, 2018. "Predicting Graduation Rates at 4-year Broad Access Institutions Using a Bayesian Modeling Approach," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 59(2), pages 133-155, March.
    25. Karri A. Holley, 2018. "The Longitudinal Career Experiences of Interdisciplinary Neuroscience PhD Recipients," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 89(1), pages 106-127, January.
    26. Gaughan, Monica & Robin, Stephane, 2004. "National science training policy and early scientific careers in France and the United States," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 569-581, May.
    27. Roach, Michael & Sauermann, Henry, 2010. "A taste for science? PhD scientists' academic orientation and self-selection into research careers in industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 422-434, April.
    28. Balsmeier, Benjamin & Pellens, Maikel, 2014. "Who makes, who breaks: Which scientists stay in academe?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 229-232.
    29. Geuna, Aldo (ed.), 2015. "Global Mobility of Research Scientists," Elsevier Monographs, Elsevier, edition 1, number 9780128013960.
    30. Andrew S. Hanks & Kevin M. Kniffin, 2014. "Early career PhD salaries: the industry premium and interdisciplinary debate," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(18), pages 1277-1282, December.
    31. Annelore Huyghe & Mirjam Knockaert, 2015. "The influence of organizational culture and climate on entrepreneurial intentions among research scientists," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 138-160, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrea M Zimmerman, 2018. "Navigating the path to a biomedical science career," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(9), pages 1-24, September.
    2. Hayter, Christopher S. & Parker, Marla A., 2019. "Factors that influence the transition of university postdocs to non-academic scientific careers: An exploratory study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 556-570.
    3. Conti, Annamaria & Visentin, Fabiana, 2015. "A revealed preference analysis of PhD students’ choices over employment outcomes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1931-1947.
    4. Hottenrott, Hanna & Lawson, Cornelia, 2014. "Flying the nest: How the home department shapes researchers’ career paths," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201409, University of Turin.
    5. Carolina Cañibano & Richard Woolley & Eric J. Iversen & Sybille Hinze & Stefan Hornbostel & Jakob Tesch, 2019. "A conceptual framework for studying science research careers," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(6), pages 1964-1992, December.
    6. Fernandez-Zubieta, Ana & Geuna, Aldo & Lawson, Cornelia, 2015. "What do We Know of the Mobility of Research Scientists and of its Impact on Scientific Production," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201522, University of Turin.
    7. Andrea Seidl & Stefan Wrzaczek & Fouad El Ouardighi & Gustav Feichtinger, 2016. "Optimal Career Strategies and Brain Drain in Academia," Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 268-295, January.
    8. Roman Fudickar & Hanna Hottenrott & Cornelia Lawson, 2018. "What’s the price of academic consulting? Effects of public and private sector consulting on academic research," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(4), pages 699-722.
    9. Fudickar, Roman & Hottenrott, Hanna & Lawson, Cornelia, 2016. "What's the price of consulting? Effects of public and private sector consulting on academic research," DICE Discussion Papers 212, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    10. Herrera, Liliana & Nieto, Mariano, 2016. "PhD careers in Spanish industry: Job determinants in manufacturing versus non-manufacturing firms," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 113(PB), pages 341-351.
    11. Shmatko, Natalia & Katchanov, Yurij & Volkova, Galina, 2020. "The value of PhD in the changing world of work: Traditional and alternative research careers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    12. Benjamin Balsmeier & Maikel Pellens, 2016. "How much does it cost to be a scientist?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 469-505, June.
    13. Geuna, Aldo & Shibayama, Sotaro, 2015. "Moving Out Of Academic Research: Why Scientists Stop Doing Research?," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis LEI & BRICK - Laboratory of Economics of Innovation "Franco Momigliano", Bureau of Research in Innovation, Complexity and Knowledge, Collegio 201501, University of Turin.
    14. Nora Hesse, 2015. "Students' Career Attitudes - How Entrepreneurial Are Prospective Scientists?," Working Papers on Innovation and Space 2015-03, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    15. Sauermann, Henry & Roach, Michael, 2014. "Not all scientists pay to be scientists: PhDs’ preferences for publishing in industrial employment," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 32-47.
    16. Henry Sauermann, 2017. "Fire in the Belly? Employee Motives and Innovative Performance in Startups versus Established Firms," NBER Working Papers 23099, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Santos, João M. & Horta, Hugo & Heitor, Manuel, 2016. "Too many PhDs? An invalid argument for countries developing their scientific and academic systems: The case of Portugal," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 113(PB), pages 352-362.
    18. André D. S. Lerche & Christian L. Burk & Bettina S. Wiese, 2023. "Leaving the Ivory Tower: Vocational Application Orientation of Early Career Academics," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 64(3), pages 402-422, May.
    19. Michaël Bikard & Keyvan Vakili & Florenta Teodoridis, 2019. "When Collaboration Bridges Institutions: The Impact of University–Industry Collaboration on Academic Productivity," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(2), pages 426-445, March.
    20. Geuna, Aldo & Kataishi, Rodrigo & Toselli, Manuel & Guzmán, Eduardo & Lawson, Cornelia & Fernandez-Zubieta, Ana & Barros, Beatriz, 2015. "SiSOB data extraction and codification: A tool to analyze scientific careers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(9), pages 1645-1658.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:reihed:v:61:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s11162-019-09584-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.