February 25, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Most doctoral grads work outside of academia

In 2000, over 70 percent of doctoral-degree holders worked outside of colleges and universities.

Employment of doctoral graduates by selected industry, 2000 (percent)
[Chart data—TXT]

While 28 percent of employed doctoral graduates had an academic job in 2000, the remainder were employed in other industries. Health services was the next most common industry to employ doctoral grads, followed by legal services and manufacturing, and educational services other than college and university.

Note that the doctoral graduates discussed here include all ages, not just new doctoral-degree recipients. Furthermore, the chart includes not only Ph.D.’s, but also other kinds of doctoral degrees such as the Doctorate of Education.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. More information can be found in "Beyond supply and demand: Assessing the Ph.D. job market," by Elka Jones, Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Winter 2002-03.

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