POSTGRADUATE degrees offer a sure-fire catapult into a well-paid career, right? Unfortunately, not all postgraduate training will boost your employment prospects; some can leave you overqualified for entry-level positions and drowning in debt. Many postgraduates are in high demand, though. Choosing the right course can enable you to follow your academic passions and take your employability 鈥� and pay cheque 鈥� to the next level.
An increasing number of graduates are opting to study for a master鈥檚 degree. Although the number of doctoral students, and those enrolled in vocational postgraduate courses such as teacher training, has not changed much over the last decade, enrolment in master鈥檚 courses has increased by around half between 2002 and 2011. The number of these students is similarly high today, according to .
But these students may be paying through the nose for the opportunity. Funding is increasingly hard to find, and of late. At the same time, . Now, applicants are most likely to find this kind of funding as part of an enhanced undergraduate degree or during the first year of a doctoral degree.
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And investing in a self-funded master鈥檚 might not pay off. A quick glance at employment figures reveals that a master鈥檚 is no insurance against unemployment. 鈥淭he postgraduate market still appears to be in recession,鈥� says , deputy director of research at the UK Higher Education Careers Services Unit. In 2007, 4 per cent of master鈥檚 graduates in science subjects found themselves unemployed six months after completing their course. By 2012, that number had risen to 7.2 per cent 鈥� barely better than the 8.3 per cent of unemployed science graduates without a master鈥檚, according to . The statistics are brighter for some subjects, though.
PhDs could provide a safer route to employment, if you are willing to put in the extra time. Only 4.4 per cent of science PhDs are unemployed six months after graduating 鈥� just slightly more that the 3 per cent of PhDs who found themselves without a job before the recession hit.
A master鈥檚 might not boost your employability by much, but you can expect the qualification to boost your earnings. Master鈥檚 graduates who do find a job can look forward to earning 9.4 per cent more over their lifetime than their peers who left university with a bachelor鈥檚 degree, according to . PhDs are rewarded with even more: a 16.2 per cent increase in lifetime earnings.
A , compiled this year by , a UK organisation promoting research careers, corroborates these gains. The organisation looked at data collected by HESA, which asked 2500 PhDs 鈥� two-thirds of them scientists 鈥� about their earnings, and recorded an average salary of 拢35,000. That鈥檚 拢3000 more than those with only a master鈥檚 degree can expect, and a whopping 拢10,000 ahead of those with a bachelor鈥檚 degree. 鈥淭he hearsay that you don鈥檛 get paid for your PhD simply is not true,鈥� says Janet Metcalfe, head of Vitae.
But don鈥檛 rush out to sign up for a doctoral place quite yet. The prospects are reassuring, but the three- or four-year commitment should not be taken lightly. 鈥淚f you haven鈥檛 got the motivation and passion for it, don鈥檛 even think about embarking on a PhD,鈥� says Metcalfe.
鈥淚f you haven鈥檛 got the motivation and passion for it, don鈥檛 even think about embarking on a PhD鈥�
If you think you can put up with the famously long, solitary hours, funding should be easier to find than for a standalone master鈥檚. 鈥淎 PhD is definitely the choice if you want a research and development career, regardless of whether it鈥檚 in academia or industry. And three more years in education with funding compared to one year without is worth thinking about,鈥� says Ball.
Follow the funding
When choosing a subject, it is a good idea to follow the funding. A glance at the UK government鈥檚 priorities in science and technology is a sound starting point. Last year, the government settled on : energy-efficient computing, satellites and commercial space applications, robotics, synthetic biology, regenerative medicine, food production, nanotechnology, and energy and its storage. Together, .
Many of these areas have an engineering component. It comes as no surprise, then, that a report by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills predicts . According to , almost 70 per cent of engineering and IT employers are struggling to find senior engineers.
To boost the postgraduate supply for , the UK鈥檚 biggest postgraduate funder, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), is planning to invest an extra 拢350 million into more than 70 university-based Centres for Doctoral Training. These centres aim to foster interdisciplinary research for engineers, physical scientists and mathematicians, with strong involvement from industrial partners to help them learn about business and gain entrepreneurial skills. Each centre tackles one of the priority areas, which include medical imaging and engineering, energy use and storage and quantum technologies.
PhD holders can also be hot property in industry. 鈥淎 , including Airbus, GSK, Rolls Royce, Unilever and Vodafone, closely links PhD holders with increased company performance and a host of secondary benefits,鈥� says Neil Viner of the EPSRC.
鈥淓ngineering is certainly one area where we are short on people doing doctorates, but rewards for master鈥檚 graduates are already so high that few are convinced to invest the extra time,鈥� says Ball. Mechanical engineers, for example, already enjoy some of the lowest unemployment rates among master鈥檚 graduates; at 4.2 per cent this is below the science PhD average of 4.4 per cent.
In medical, life and environmental sciences, the outlook is mixed. Biology, biochemistry and environmental science master鈥檚 graduates have unemployment levels markedly above the 7.2 per cent science averages, at 8.1, 11.2 and 8.6 per cent, respectively. 鈥淓specially in biology, this is probably a temporary trend linked to a downturn in non-medical NHS positions,鈥� says Ball.
A promising option may be to convert to a medical degree or choose a postgraduate course in a medical subject. Budget cuts at the National Health Service (NHS) don鈥檛 seem to affect prospects for medical roles too badly. 鈥淥utcomes here are really good, you basically don鈥檛 get unemployed medical graduates,鈥� says Ball. It isn鈥檛 just those training to be doctors who benefit. Only 6 per cent of anatomy, physiology and pathology master鈥檚 graduates find themselves unemployed six months after finishing. And for those who fancy a career in biomedical research, PhD scholarships are on offer not only from the but also from several charities such as the and Cancer Research UK.
If medical science does not appeal, try looking to subjects that tackle some of society鈥檚 pressing problems. Priorities for funding at the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council include food security, bioenergy and ageing research. Food supply and energy security also rank high on a put together by the Natural Environment Research Council last year, along with skills in other sustainability-related subjects such as freshwater science, soil science, environmental epidemiology and sustainability science and planning.
The top five skills on the list, however, are computer modelling, multi-disciplinarity, data management, numeracy and translating research into practice. The same skills underlie many of the government鈥檚 鈥渆ight great technologies鈥�. 鈥淭he message that is coming through from this is the importance of interdisciplinary skills,鈥� says Metcalfe. Ball also believes people with such skills are in high demand. 鈥淭here are always shortages of postgraduates in the very mathematical disciplines and at the interface between subjects,鈥� he says.
Thinking about your career goals should be high on the agenda before you decide on a course, says Metcalfe. 鈥淧ostgraduate study, and especially a career in academia, can seem like an easy option because it鈥檚 a familiar environment, but it is important to realise just how many employment opportunities there are across all sectors.鈥� She recommends internships, volunteering or even simply talking to people who work at different organisations. Once you have your heart set on a particular subject or course, don鈥檛 let employment worries put you off, recommends Ball: 鈥淭here are not particular subjects you should avoid in terms of employability. You are likely to get a job; you just may need to work on it.鈥�
鈥淧ostgraduate study can seem like an easy option, but it opens up job opportunities across all sectors鈥�
Case Study: A smart PhD choice
Sometimes a PhD really can help you save the world. The real-world relevance of 鈥榮 PhD in epidemiology and modelling at the University of Cambridge is what makes his research so fundable. But it is the fact that Cox鈥檚 work straddles many disciplines that impresses employers.
Cox and his colleagues use mathematical and computational models to develop maps showing the risk of plant disease that can help policy- makers decide where to look for outbreaks and how to tackle them. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a real-life, relevant project that is likely to have an impact,鈥� he says.
Cox studied physics to master鈥檚 level before making the leap to plant sciences, but says he feels right at home alongside his team mates, who include mathematicians, physicists and field biologists. 鈥淭he mathematical skills I learned in physics are useful in epidemiology and I have been building on the computer programming skills I previously learned to help make sense of the complexity of biological systems,鈥� he says.
With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Cox has the opportunity to continue his research in a postdoctoral position. But he is confident his PhD could also open doors outside academia. The two finance internships he undertook during his undergrad degree have helped demonstrate his range of skills. 鈥淚nternships are a good way to make yourself commercially aware and employable and to keep a foot in both worlds,鈥� he says.
Case Study: Choosing a career-boosting master鈥檚
When Binita Chamling started her undergraduate degree in biotechnology at in India, job prospects were the last thing on her mind. 鈥淢ost of my science-oriented friends went for medical subjects which have the best job prospects, but I loved biology and wanted to stick closer to basic science,鈥� she says.
It wasn鈥檛 until the end of the course that Chamling found that her employment opportunities weren鈥檛 fantastic. To enhance her appeal to employers in the biotech industry, Chamling opted for a master鈥檚 in biotechnology and enterprise. Alongside advanced scientific training, the course offered modules in enterprise and business, knowledge transfer, intellectual property and commercialisation 鈥� all taught through the lens of the biotech industry. 鈥淲e would, for example, write business plans for real spin-out companies from the university,鈥� she says.
The experience impressed industry employers 鈥� Chamling was recruited straight from her course and now works in business development for imaging company , which manufactures digital scanners among other products. On the side, she also does some freelance consultancy for the organic food industry. 鈥淚 am applying everything I learned on the master鈥檚 course in my current job, and the good thing is that you can use the business skills in any field,鈥� she says.
Three years on, Chamling knows from experience how an industry-relevant master鈥檚 can boost a scientist鈥檚 career. 鈥淎s an undergraduate I only knew science; the master鈥檚 course helped me understand how the industry functions as a whole,鈥� she says.
This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淭ough choices鈥�