Study title

Doctoral Graduates of Year 2014: Career and Employment Survey 2017

Dataset ID Number

FSD3284

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3284

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Aarresaari network of the Academic Career Services in Finland

Other Identification/Acknowledgements

• Ollikainen, Jyrki (University of Tampere. School of Information Sciences. Statistics)

Abstract

The data charted the careers and employment situations of Finnish doctoral graduates three years after they had obtained their degree in 2014. Themes of the survey included impact of a doctoral degree on employment, job satisfaction and development suggestions for doctoral education.

The respondents were first asked to what extent different reasons had impacted their decision to take up a doctoral degree, and how they had financed their studies. They were asked to estimate the share of time they had spent on their doctoral dissertation alongside other work at the university. Relating to employment situation and quality of work, questions charted how the degree had affected the respondents' status in the job market and what their occupational status was at the time of the survey and what it had been 6 months before starting the degree and 6 months after finishing it. The respondents were asked if they had been unemployed after finishing their degree, and reasons were charted that potentially had hindered their employment. The respondents who were in paid work were asked the type of their current work tasks and the competences needed in their work. It was also examined whether a doctoral degree was a prerequisite for their current job as well as how well the respondents' work corresponded to their qualifications. Gross monthly income was also charted.

With regard to the significance of a doctoral degree in occupational life, opinions were charted on whether the topic of the respondent's doctoral dissertation had been useful in employment, whether having a doctoral degree had led to an increased salary and better standing in occupational life, and whether doctoral education was useful when it came to employment and skills needed in occupational life. Relating to developing and improving doctoral education, views were probed on the guidance received during studies, satisfaction with the studies, and things that should be emphasised in the education (e.g. teaching skills, entrepreneurship).

Background variables included the respondent's gender, field of study, and age at the time of graduation (dichotomised "under 36"/"36 and over").

Keywords

appointment to job; career development; educational certificates; employment opportunities; higher education institutions; labour and employment; labour force; post-graduates; tertiary education (second stage)

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Higher and further education (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Employment (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Career and Employment Survey of Finnish University Graduates

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (C) available only for research including master's theses.

Data Collector

• Aarresaari network of the Academic Career Services in Finland

Time Period Covered

2017 – 2018

Collection Dates

2017-11 – 2018-01

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Doctoral graduates from Finnish universities in 2014 (excluding National Defence University)

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

The survey sample included 1,864 graduates. A link to the survey was sent to the graduates by SMS if their phone number was public. In addition, the alumni were reached by e-mail. In total, 805 doctors responded, constituting a response rate of 43%.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

43

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

To prevent identification of respondents, all open-ended variables and variables 30-31 denoting municipality of residence and nationality were removed from the data during archiving. Income and age were also categorised.

Variables 13 (municipality where job is located), 15 (name of employer), 16 (job title) and 32-33 (other degrees obtained) were not included in the archived data.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Aarresaari network of the Academic Career Services in Finland: Doctoral Graduates of Year 2014: Career and Employment Survey 2017 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2019-11-05). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3284

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Materials

Survey results have also been published in the Vipunen service of the Finnish National Agency for Education.

Kurlin, Ari & Suorsa, Outi & Carver, Eric & Taulu, Heikki & Akava & Aarresaari-verkoston uraseurantaryhmä (2018). Yliopistojen maisteri- ja tohtoriseurantakyselyiden 2017 tulokset. https://www.aarresaari.net/uraseuranta/tohtoreiden_uraseuranta [Viitattu 5.11.2019]

Related Publications

Kurlin, Ari & Suorsa, Outi & Carver, Eric & Taulu, Heikki & Akava & Aarresaari-verkoston uraseurantaryhmä (2018). Yliopistojen maisteri- ja tohtoriuraseurantakyselyiden 2017 tulokset.