Are doctoral graduates fleeing NZ?

Media Release

21 September 2011

Are doctoral graduates fleeing NZ?

A study released by the Ministry of Education shows that graduates with doctoral degrees are less likely to work in New Zealand than if they had only graduated with a bachelors or masters degree. More than a third of doctoral graduates were not employed in New Zealand four years after they had finished their study. A fifth of all doctoral graduates had never worked in New Zealand at all during the four year period.

The study, 'Do people with doctoral degrees get jobs in New Zealand post study? ' by the Ministry of Education notes the domestic employment rate of the New Zealand doctoral cohort was lower than in similar leaving cohorts in Canada and the United Kingdom.

TEU national president Dr Sandra Grey says that many doctoral students are looking for beginning positions as academics in tertiary institutions, but New Zealand's universities, wananga and polytechnics are not doing enough to provide the secure, stable job opportunities and academic working conditions these graduates need to keep them here in New Zealand.

“New Zealand’s tertiary institutions have an ageing academic workforce because they are not doing enough to hire new academics. Many academics are nearing retirement age and we could soon have a severe workforce shortage because we have not done enough to bring new, young academics into our institutions,” said Dr Grey.
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