Debate: PHD degree programmes make sense

By Lise Wogensen and Ole Steen Nielsen

PhD graduates are too expensive, we produce too many of them - particularly PhD graduates from the health sciences - and the value they contribute to society does not match the investment made. That is an easily understandable and marketable message that can be enthusiastically spread in the media. Unfortunately, this is exactly what the Danish DEA think tank succeeded in doing following the study they carried out of PhD graduate’s job patterns and salary levels. The think tank concludes that the investment does not have an effect.

But that conclusion is far too simple.

In an international context, the future success of Danish research depends on whether we can recruit and retain the most talented graduates for a career as a researcher. At the same time, PhD graduates who do not receive a position at the universities must enter the labour market and become part of the well-trained workforce in businesses and the public sector.

We spend a considerable sum of money every year on PhD degree programmes. So it is only logical for us to investigate whether this major initiative provides a pay-off. But DEA's study fails to reflect upon the quality of the PhD degree programmes or on the value and dynamics which the PhD students have in the research environments, in society in general and in international contexts. A PhD graduate is a contribution to a strong and highly qualified labour force, which is a precondition for us being able to manage in the global competition.

According to DEA, too many health science PhD graduates are trained in particular, they are trained wrongly and the industrial sector cannot absorb them, meaning that they therefore fail to contribute to increased growth.

However, there is no evidence that the quality of PhD graduates has fallen. DEA also forget that pursuant to the Danish Health Act, all preventive efforts and patient treatment must be research-based, which the health science PhD students and graduates contribute towards with new research and development results.

At the universities we aim to educate and train competent and independent PhD graduates. We assess the qualifications of PhD applicants and during the PhD programme we focus on supervision, integration in the research environments and offers of relevant courses that help to sharpen the competences of our PhD students. We increasingly focus on ensuring that a PhD graduate is able to match the demands made of the types of jobs in the labour market which require a PhD graduate.

We must be open to verifying whether we achieve the desired goal with the PhD initiative in terms of the quality of the research the person in question delivers and their own acquired competences. Our PhD students and our PhD degree programmes must be internationally competitive and must position themselves at the forefront of international competition for grants and jobs. This should be measured by comparing quality with that of other countries. Not solely by measuring whether the PhD graduates fit seamlessly into business and industry or receive a’ high salary.

Lise Wogensen and Ole Steen Nielsen are vice-deans of talent development and research respectively at Health, Aarhus University.