What do researchers do? Career paths of doctoral graduates 2011

Pollard E, Metcalfe J, Hodges V |   | The Careers Research and Advisory Centre (CRAC) Limited | Aug 2011

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Research Councils UK (RCUK) is committed to attracting and training excellentresearchers who can make an impact through world-class research and bring majorbenefits to the economic and social wellbeing of the UK.

As part of the RCUK‘Doctoral Careers Pathway Study’, in 2010, the report ‘What do researchers do?Doctoral graduate destinations and impact three years on’ provided, for the first time,comprehensive evidence of the value of doctoral study to researchers, theiremployers and society at large.

To further explore how highly-skilled doctoral graduates contribute to UK society,culture and economy, this report highlights the employment pathways of researchers within andbetween six distinct occupational clusters; describing the stability, mobility andprogression of researcher careers.

This study illustrates that doctoral research training is a good foundation for a widevariety of occupations and demonstrates the flexibility of researchers who takeadvantage of a diversity of employment opportunities.