Final Report on Understanding Science, Engineering and Technology Research Postgraduate Career Pathways

The Final Report on Understanding Science, Engineering and Technology Research Postgraduate Career Pathways aimed to identify the factors which influence the career decisions of Australian SET research postgraduates, through case studies, interviews and a survey instrument.  The methodology built on the first stage of the project, a Literature Review.

The key findings were that:

• a significant proportion of SET-qualified people do not continue to work in SET-related occupations and this increases with time and number of occupations;
• an academic career is one of the most common pathways that SET postgraduate researchers choose.  Choosing this pathway typically requires a period in numerous short-term postdoctoral positions (a worldwide phenomenon known as the ‘postdoc treadmill’);
• there is a perceived mismatch between the skills of researchers and the skills required by non-academic employers;
• there is a commonly held view among postgraduate researchers that a period of time spent working overseas is important for establishing a research career;
• SET postgraduate researchers are motivated less by remuneration and more by job satisfaction, the opportunity to work for a prestigious organisation and an environment that offers autonomy, intellectual freedom and job security;
• female SET postgraduate researchers earn less than their male counterparts and leaving the workforce to have children has a marked effect on future career opportunities.