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Doctoral education and employer needs - are they compatible?

Doctoral education and employer needs - are they compatible?. Tony Donohoe, Head of Education Policy. Salzburg principles.

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Doctoral education and employer needs - are they compatible?

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  1. Doctoral education and employer needs- are they compatible? Tony Donohoe, Head of Education Policy

  2. Salzburg principles ‘The core component of doctoral training is the advancement of knowledge through original research. At the same time it is recognised that doctoral training must increasingly meet the needs of an employment market that is wider than academia’

  3. Contrasting views “The training of PHD is too narrow, too campus-centred and too long. Furthermore, many have much too narrow a set of personal and career expectations. Most do not know what it is they know that is of most value”. John Armstrong, ‘Rethinking the PhD’ “….to develop a new breed of creative graduate, expert in their discipline, but with a thorough understanding of how innovation can rapidly convert knowledge, ideas and inventions into products, services and policies for economic and social benefit”. Trinity-UCD Innovation Academy

  4. PhDs by discipline

  5. Likelihood of increasing PhD nos by 2013 …but 61% of companies that already employ PhDs are likely to increase intake

  6. Factors in employing PhD researchers

  7. Vitae (UK) Report –ranking of skills • Data analysis • Problem solving • Drive and motivation • Project Managing • Interpersonal skills • Leadership • Commercial awareness

  8. The entrepreneurial skillset • Self-confidence • Strategic thinking • Cooperate for success • Ability to plan work, organise tasks and communicate decisions • Project development and implementation • Team-building and attribution of success • Recognition and proactive orientation to change and innovation • Risk assessment and foresight activity with regard to market changes and opportunities

  9. Improving the processes • Align funding for structured PhD programmes where there is a strong demand for PhD qualified researchers • Systematic and formal consultation with enterprise in development of structured PhD programmes • A user-friendly, centralised system to access information on PhD pipeline • Scale up Enterprise Partnership Scheme • Emulate Danish Industrial PhD programme • Embed entrepreneurship and ‘employability skills

  10. Possible questions for discussion • What is the role of supervisors in meeting this challenge? • How can we define and promote a richer construct of ‘employability’ which is not inimical to the values and practices of the academy? • How can we bridge the gap in business and academic perceptions of time? • Are PhD programmes acknowledging the importance of interdisciplinary knowledge? • How can PhDs be made relevant to SMEs

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