Summary

Key Findings

This study analysed the New Zealand-based employment rate of a cohort of domestic doctoral graduates who finished studying in 2003. The results show that:

• around 65 percent of the doctoral cohort were employed in New Zealand four years after they last studied. This was a lower rate of employment in New Zealand than domestic bachelors and masters graduates from the same leaving year
• younger graduates, Asians, and graduates in ‘Natural and physical sciences’ were less likely to be employed in New Zealand four years after they last studied
• the domestic employment rate of the New Zealand doctoral cohort was lower than in similar leaving cohorts in Canada and the United Kingdom.

This report analysed the New Zealand-based employment rate up to four years post study of a cohort of domestic doctoral graduates who last studied in 2003.  Doctoral graduates represent a key resource for New Zealand, given their specialised research training, so the New Zealand-based employment rates of these graduates give a sense of how well this important resource contributes to New Zealand’s economy.

The results showed that for those domestic students who last studied in 2003 and achieved their doctorate, around 65 percent were employed in New Zealand four years after they last studied. This was lower than for students who last studied at masters (72 percent) and bachelors (75 percent) level.

Not surprisingly, younger doctoral graduates were less likely to be employed in New Zealand post study. Four years after they last studied, the employment rate in New Zealand of graduates aged under 30 when they graduated was 57 percent, compared with 63 percent for graduates aged 30 to 39, and 73 percent for those aged 40 and over. This difference reflects the greater likelihood of younger graduates being overseas.

There was little difference in New Zealand-based employment rates by gender, but Asian graduates were less likely than other ethnic groups to be employed in New Zealand four years after they last studied. On the other hand, Māori graduates were the most likely to be in employment in New Zealand.

By field of study, graduates in ‘Natural and physical sciences’ were the least likely to be in employment in New Zealand four years after they last studied (with a New Zealand-based employment rate of 57 percent), while graduates in ‘Society and culture’ were the most likely to be employed in New Zealand (New Zealand-based employment rate of 65 percent).

When compared with Canada and the United Kingdom, the domestic employment rate of doctoral graduates tended to be lower in New Zealand. However, this is likely to reflect the more limited opportunities for graduates to undertake post-doctoral research in New Zealand.

When looking at the sequence of employment of the domestic doctoral graduates, around 56 percent of the cohort were employed in New Zealand for all four years post study, while 21 percent were never employed in New Zealand in any of the four years post study.

In terms of industry destinations of the doctoral graduates, the majority were employed in the ‘Education and training’ industry, followed by ‘Scientific and professional services’.

The study used the Employment Outcomes of Tertiary Education (EOTE) Feasibility Dataset, managed by Statistics New Zealand. Statistics New Zealand has plans to add New Zealand Customs data on border crossings to the employment and education data, which will allow for future analysis to identify who is overseas. This will then allow for a more robust analysis of the utilisation of new doctoral graduates in New Zealand.