Career trajectory and cross‐system mobility: Career planning of doctoral students in Macao

Abstract

This study investigates career trajectory and work locations of doctoral students trained in Macao and analyses how their career paths are shaped by perceived macro‐level factors. Respondents from four applied disciplinary areas were selected for semi‐structured in‐depth interviews. Research results show that doctoral students who graduated from Macao higher education institutions enjoy good career prospects in Mainland China. Their competitiveness in the research‐related job market benefits from having a multi‐level support system and a training mode that promotes government–university–industry collaboration. Policies and demand from industrial sectors are involved in students' learning experience through channels such as financial support, project collaboration and networks. Doctoral students in Macao are strategic planners and actors in leveraging their human capital. As Macao becomes an emerging destination for cultivating high‐level research labour, findings from this study capture a model of human capital formation in China's cross‐system context.

Decision making of PhD students regarding careers and employment in East Asia

“…The article by Ge (2023) investigates the career trajectory and work locations of doctoral students trained in Macao and analyses how their career paths are shaped by perceived macro-level factors. She finds that collaboration experiences appear to have both positive and negative impacts on students' intentions to work in the industrial sector.…”

“…The choices and decisions of female PhD students and graduates are guided by constraints that do not seem to affect their male counterparts to the same extent (see the articles by Chen et al, 2023). Mobility and adaptation are concerns guiding the decisionmaking of PhD students and graduates, and the findings show that they establish strategies to make sure they can cope and eventually succeed (see the articles by Ge, 2023;. Location also seems to increasingly matter for several reasons that often overlap.…”