Career Paths After PhD

What can you? do after a PhD? Is it worth doing a PhD when an academic career is not the goal? Well, there are several career paths you can take after completing your PhD program. Numerous resources online guide you through this process, and most experts suggest three main routes: pursuing an academic career, transitioning to industry, or exploring entrepreneurship. We are trying to explore all three options to guide you in the appropriate direction.

From dreams of academia to reality?

From the very beginning, there is a special category of students who aspire to have an academic career. But during their study in bachelor’s or master’s programmes some of them changed their minds. At NES, 18% of our graduates typically pursue an academic career path. At MIT, 35% follow the academic trajectory. It usually starts from Pre-Doc or PhD programs.?

Do you need to go through a Pre-Doc and PostDoc phase in your academic route? No, but academia is becoming increasingly competitive, so the number of steps in the academic journey is increasing. Some choose to undergo a pre-doc before pursuing a PhD, gaining research experience in various laboratories, while others seek life experience through work and travel. NES Alumna Anna Mikusheva (MAE'2002; PhD, Harvard University), who is a professor of economics at MIT, explains that the PhD programs themselves have become more extended. "Typically lasting six years in most cases, and sometimes even seven. Following this, a significant number of graduates do not embark directly on the path to a lifelong professorship (tenure track), but first, they engage in postdoctoral research. This might be because they haven't found a suitable professorial position and want to enhance their resume over the next couple of years", states Anna Mikusheva. In some cases, individuals have already secured their initial professorial position but take a couple of years to focus on research in laboratories, with funding provided by faculties or foundations, presenting it as an award. Subsequently, they commence their academic career path (tenure track), which spans a similar duration of 7-8 years.?

At Stanford GSE, 35% of doctoral graduates worked in academia. They choose tenure track, non-tenure track, and postdoctoral positions. Tenure track is a professor's pathway to promotion and academic job security. A person starting from an assistant professor then becomes an associate professor and at last a professor. Simply put, tenure is a lifelong faculty appointment, which includes teaching and research. Non-tenure track indicates academic positions which do not have a path to tenure, the lifelong faculty appointment. Non-tenure track positions often focus on teaching, and may not be renewable after the initial term of the contract. After more than 7 years of doctoral experience, landing an academic position as a professor depends on various factors, including research progress, networking, and the strength of the desire to pursue the field. Some are disappointed and even did not complete their PhD. We should not forget the salary factor. According to Forbes and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), postsecondary educators in the US earned a median annual salary of $80,840 as of May 2022. However, salaries vary by discipline and geographical location. For example, law professors earn a median salary of $108,860, while social work educators earn $66,510 annually. The BLS projects employment opportunities for postsecondary educators to increase by 8%, a faster-than-average rate, from 2022 to 2032 as learners continue to seek advanced education.

Science and tech symbiosis

The technology boom has not only transformed the industry, but also the field of science. NES alumnus Ruben Enikolopov (MAE'2002; PhD, Harvard University), who is a professor at NES and Pompeu Fabra University, identifies the roots of these changes. "Previously, if people were involved in research in the private sector, it was usually applied research and very rarely academic. Now, the situation is changing, largely thanks to the efforts of big tech companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, etc. They are significantly advancing research in the field of economics, attracting top-notch scientists. Of course, they engage in research with an applied perspective, but it is very close to academic science. It happens that people leave academia, and after a few years, they come back. In the past, it used to be a one-way ticket", notes Ruben Enikolopov. Industry needs science researchers for innovations and further growth, while researchers need data access. Enormous salaries are a pleasant bonus. Glassdoor estimates total pay for a PhD Researcher at Microsoft is $191,204 per year. “This number represents the median, which is the midpoint of the ranges from our proprietary Total Pay Estimate model and based on salaries collected from our users. The estimated base pay is $144,826 per year. The estimated additional pay is $46,377 per year. Additional pay could include bonus, stock, commission, profit sharing or tips.” According to CNBC, data scientists’ salaries range from $154,000 to $212,000 per year. Location also affects the income level. An AI researcher's annual salary in Chicago, IL is $90,741. And if an AI researcher moves to San Francisco, CA, the salary rises up to $130,868. However, salary is not the main reason why people after PhD dive into business.?

From PhD to startup?

You need passion for science to start an academic career. This passion, combined with deep knowledge of the field and experience, leads to great results. Achievement and success can manifest in various forms including startups. Some experts have even questioned whether PhD is the new MBA as a gateway to entrepreneurship. Writing for Elaia on Medium, Benoit Georis has pointed out that while MBA entrepreneurs usually discover a gap in a particular market and establish a startup based on this opportunity, PhD entrepreneurs tend to begin by addressing a scientific challenge that requires a longer period of time, generally between three to six years. The former is often referred to as “market pull” while the latter is referred to as “technological push” type of opportunities. Another way to categorize them is that “market pull” would be part of an incremental innovation while the latter would be more of a disruptive innovation. PhD entrepreneurs' startups have been called deep tech. In 2015, Swati Chaturvedi, CEO of Propel(x), differentiated tech startups built on commonly available technologies and those (deep tech) engaged in long-term scientific and technological R&D. We are all witnessing a glimpse of disruptive innovation through the trends in AI. Boston Consulting Group's 2023 report shows the VC funding fall of deep tech from $160 billion in 2021 to about $105 billion in 2022 to $40 billion for the first half of 2023—close to 2020 levels. The drop roughly tracked the broader decline in venture funding that resulted from rising interest rates during this period. But the size of the average deep tech investment has significantly increased, with many now reaching $100 million or more. BCG analysis found that traditional and deep-tech-focused funds deliver similar unweighted internal rates of return (26% and 25%, respectively). The US and China lead the world in absolute share of deep-tech funding provided, with more than 60% and 12%, respectively. Europe collectively has 14%. At the same time, BCG’s examination of deep tech funding as a share of GDP, shows that several nations – among them Israel, Sweden, the US, Singapore, and the UK – are aggressively trying to support deep tech development.?

No doubt in the future, industry and startups will continue to create demand for science researchers. Academic careers are more conservative but can still offer flexibility to incorporate your passion, ideas, and goals. All three paths are open to everyone interested.?