PhD students draw on their specialised and advanced skills to make a vital contribution to Australian research. Putting them on an income that’s below the poverty line doesn’t reflect their value.
Life for graduate students can be hard work and often isolating, and COVID-19 piled on the pressures. That’s when having an academic leader and program dedicated to supporting them proved its worth.
The realities of the job market mean most PhD students no longer work alongside people whose professional paths they will follow. Universities must do more to support non-academic mentorships.
There is no pleasure without pain in the doctoral journey, but with the right frame of mind and supportive supervisors, the joys certainly outweigh the suffering.
With the support of universities, PhD graduates working beyond the academy could bring their knowhow into PhD seminars or classrooms to help current students expand their career horizons.
PhD students can’t wait for universities and governments to reconcile the demands for a more educated workforce and a scarcity of academic jobs – they should plan their own careers.
Australia’s top scientist Alan Finkel says too many poor quality research papers are being published in Australia, and the system may inadvertently encourage academics to behave badly.
Completion rates for PhD courses are very low. Here are some things students, supervisors and universities can do to help support these students through to completion.
There are currently far too few vacant academic jobs in Australia each year to employ all our PhD students. It’s time to rethink the training of doctoral students.
Peter Ngure, African Population and Health Research Center
Many people are left floundering when they try to get working on their PhDs. In Africa, this is often because the skills they need haven’t been developed earlier in their academic careers.