SharePhD 2014
Studies coordinated by AQU Catalunya on the employment outcomes of graduates from Catalan universities are a consequence of the universities’ interest, expressed by their social councils (boards of trustees), to obtain data, together with benchmarks, for the quality of the employment outcomes of their graduates.
Studies on the employment outcomes of holders of doctoral degrees (hereinafter doctorate holders) in the university system in Catalonia have been carried out once every three years since 2008, the 2014 study being the third edition (the two previous ones were carried out in 2008 and 2011).
In addition to the seven public universities, the Open University of Catalonia (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, UOC) also participated for the first time in the study.
The employment outcomes of doctoral degree holders from universities in Catalonia
Several of the main results obtained from the data for 2014 are given below:
- As shown by the data from the labour force survey (EPA) for Spain as a whole and the data from the employment outcomes survey for AQU Catalunya, doctorate holders are at an advantage in the different indicators of the labour market compared to people with a lower level of education.
- The data corresponding to 2014 show that 93% of doctorate holders from different Catalan universities were employed and 5% were unemployed.
- 88% of doctorate holders had a full-time contract, although only 46% had a permanent or open-ended contract.
- 60% of doctorate holders were working in higher education and research facilities, which means that 40% were in enterprises. 28% of these had duties and responsibilities in research, and 26% had managerial responsibilities, meaning that the majority of those in the private sector were not employed in research.
- According to the discipline, 68% of those in Experimental Sciences and 64% in Engineering were researchers compared to 57% in the Social Sciences.
- The study shows that 14% of doctorate holders were working abroad, a percentage that has increased over time, although it is still far from being widespread.
- With regard to the sector of economic activity, 69% of doctorate holders from Catalan universities were working in education and research. The financial sector employed 10% of doctorate holders in the UK, whereas it accounted for less than 0.5% of doctorate holders from Catalan universities. 5% were employed in manufacturing industries.
- 95% of doctorate holders from Catalan universities accounted for the most highly skilled occupations in the labour market (corresponding to categories 1 and 2 of the Spanish Classification of Occupations, CNO).
Survey details
PDF document
Survey Year: 2011
Faculties and universities: UB, UAB, UPC, UPF, UdG, UdL, URV and UOC.
Population and sample: the study examines the employment outcomes of 1,426 people, out of a total of 2,080 who were awarded a doctorate in 2009 and 2010, which accounted for 69% of the total, with a sampling error of 1.5%.
Last edition
Access to the labour market of the Ph.D. graduates of the Catalan universities (2008)