Does a doctoral degree pay off? An empirical analysis of rates of return of German doctorate holders

Mertens, Anne; Röbken, Heinke

doi:10.1007/s10734-012-9600-x

Cited by 45 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Intriguingly they also find that, contrary to classical economic theory, whilst the supply of postgraduates has increased, the apparent wage premium for postgraduate qualifications has also increased. Others have also found income premia for postgraduate degree holders (Conlon and Patrignani 2011;Engelage and Hadjar 2008;Mertens and R€ obken 2013). Studies of inequalities in access to UK postgraduate study for contemporary cohorts are relatively rare, but tend to suggest differences by social class background, albeit less severe than those seen in earlier transitions (D'Aguiar and Harrison 2016;HEFCE 2013a;Triventi 2013;Wakeling and Hampden-Thompson 2013).…”

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confidence: 99%

Are postgraduate qualifications the ‘new frontier of social mobility’?

Wakeling

Laurison

2017

British Journal of Sociology

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We investigate the relationship between social origin, postgraduate degree attainment, and occupational outcomes across five British age-group cohorts. We use recently-available UK Labour Force Survey data to conduct a series of logistic regressions of postgraduate (masters or doctorate) degree attainment among those with first degrees, with controls for measures of degree classification, degree subject, age, gender, ethnicity and national origin. We find a marked strengthening of the effect of class origin on degree- and occupational attainment across age cohorts. While for older generations there is little or no difference by class origin in the rates at which first-degree graduates attain postgraduate degrees, those with working-class-origins in the youngest age-group are only about 28 per cent as likely to obtain a postgraduate degree when compared with their peers from privileged origins. Moreover, social origin matters more for occupational destination, even among those with postgraduate degrees, for those in younger age groups. These findings demonstrate the newly important, and increasing, role of postgraduate degrees in reproducing socio-economic inequality in the wake of the substantial expansion of undergraduate and postgraduate education. Our findings lend some support to the Maximally Maintained Inequality thesis, suggesting that gains in equality of access to first-degrees are indeed at risk from postgraduate expansion.

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confidence: 99%

Are postgraduate qualifications the ‘new frontier of social mobility’?

Wakeling

Laurison

2017

British Journal of Sociology

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“…In general, doctoral students are interested in learning skills that are not necessarily those for which there is a demand in non-academic sectors, and this has been discussed in the literature as a major challenge to the employment of doctorate holders in non-academic sectors (see De Grande et al, 2014). It is also clear that financial motivation has not been critical for many doctoral applicants (Guerin et al, 2015;Roach and Sauermann, 2010;Zhou, 2014), although studies present mixed findings concerning the salary premium of holding a PhD when compared to other higher education degrees (e.g., Casey, 2009 vis-a-vis Mertens andRobken, 2013).…”

Section: The Changing Nature Of Phdsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Too many PhDs? An invalid argument for countries developing their scientific and academic systems: The case of Portugal

Santos

Horta

Heitor

2016

Technological Forecasting and Social Change

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This article contradicts recent arguments in Portugal that there are "too many PhDs" and argues that there is a need to understand better the changing nature of doctorates and doctorate holders. The article analyzes whether there is a surplus of doctorate holders in Portugal based on five critical dimensions, using data provided by supranational and national public organizations: stocks and flows; university academic staff qualifications; age structure; research output; and labor market for PhDs. The analysis shows that rather than a surplus, there is a shortage of doctorate holders in many sectors of activity, which is expected to be exacerbated in the next few decades. These findings underline the need to consider active public policies to attract and retain PhDs, as well as enhancing the degree of involvement of new doctorate holders in the modernization of higher education and in the internationalization of the economy. Intermediary institutions, public-private research partnerships and public administration may play a critical role in the process but require new economic actors and instruments with the capacity to invest in and employ doctorate holders.

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“…This last result could be explained as full-time workers tending to invest more working time than average part-time employees (Mertens and Röbken, 2012). As Brenke (2004) argues, longer working times of some employees are the result of a stronger identification with their jobs, and longer working hours seen as profitable investment in their human capital.…”

Section: Monetary Returnsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of college programme characteristics on graduates’ performance

García‐Aracil

2014

High Educ

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Education programmes are designed to equip young populations with the qualifications required to assume responsible roles in specific professions and in society generally. In this paper, the focus of the analysis is on the significance of a number of higher education programme characteristics in allocating young higher education graduates across the labour market and how these graduates perform in their jobs. Graduate performance is analysed in terms of both monetary and non-monetary pay-offs. The findings show that education programmes in which learning is linked to acquisition of work experience result in better paid employment, although an appropriate balance between theoretical and practical-oriented curricula is important.

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Does a doctoral degree pay off? An empirical analysis of rates of return of German doctorate holders

Cited by 45 publications

References 14 publications

Are postgraduate qualifications the ‘new frontier of social mobility’?

Are postgraduate qualifications the ‘new frontier of social mobility’?

Too many PhDs? An invalid argument for countries developing their scientific and academic systems: The case of Portugal

Effects of college programme characteristics on graduates’ performance

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