The accompanying study entitled "Karriereentscheidungen und -verläufe Promovierter unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Befristung" (Career decisions and trajectories of doctoral graduates with special consideration of fixed-term contracts) takes a look at career trajectories and the professional situation during and after the doctorate and provides numerous detailed findings, e.g. on taking on management positions, income and remaining in the academic system. A special feature of the accompanying study is that it includes a comprehensive database with the DZHW graduate studies, the DZHW doctoral panel and the IAB-INCHER project on doctoral degrees obtained, which enables a comprehensive, cross-sectoral analysis of the career decisions and career paths of doctoral graduates before, during and after their doctorate in Germany.

"The results indicate that a doctorate is still associated with good career prospects in most subject groups," explains Johannes König, researcher at INCHER. The study shows that, compared to non-doctoral graduates, doctoral graduates achieve higher incomes overall and are more likely to work in management positions and in suitable employment.

However, there are also clear differences depending on the employment sector and subject group. "A doctorate not only paves the way to a career in science, but also opens up excellent career prospects in other sectors," explains Kolja Briedis, researcher at the DZHW. Career prospects outside of universities or non-university research institutions are particularly advantageous for doctoral graduates in terms of income, working hours and taking on management positions.

On the other hand, the advantages of a career in universities and/or non-university research institutions lie in the high adequacy of employment, in which doctoral graduates often carry out highly complex activities that correspond to their qualifications.

Temporary employment relationships, which were a focus of the study's analyses, play only a minor role overall in career paths after completing a doctorate. In this respect, however, there are major discrepancies between subject groups, professions and, above all, sectors. While three quarters of doctoral graduates who leave academia after completing their doctorate and move to the private sector receive a permanent contract, this only applies to around seven percent of doctoral graduates who change employers within academia after completing their doctorate. These results indicate that fixed-term contracts continue to dominate, particularly among those who continue to pursue an academic career after completing their doctorate. In the engineering sciences, doctoral graduates are much more likely to take up permanent employment during the doctoral phase. In contrast, doctoral graduates in the humanities and arts are much less likely to be offered a permanent contract when they take up a new position - both during and after their doctorate.

The authors of the study also looked at demographic developments and their impact on the academic system. Their forecast results suggest that there will be increased competition for university graduates in the future. In particular, declining numbers of students and graduates suggest that, unlike in the past, the number of doctoral students and graduates will probably not continue to rise, but rather fall in the coming years.

An important question will therefore be to what extent this will pose challenges for the innovative strength and competitiveness of the higher education and science system in the future.

The accompanying study is available at https://buwik.de/mediathek/

The Federal Report on Scientists in an Early Career Phase (BuWiK) 2025 can be found at https://www.buwik.de/

Contact:

International Center for Higher Education Research (INCHER)
University of Kassel
Mönchebergstrasse 17
34125 Kassel
www.uni-kassel.de/INCHER
Dr. Johannes König (contact person): koenig@uni-kassel.de
Dr. Christiane Rittgerott (press contact): rittgerott@incher.uni-kassel.de

German Center for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW)
Lange Laube 12
30159 Hannover
www.dzhw.eu
Dr. Filiz Gülal (Press contact) guelal[at]dzhw[dot]eu
Dr. Kolja Briedis (Contact persons) briedis@dzhw.eu