Life after graduate school

Traditionally, successful doctorate candidates in the English-speaking world would proceed to tenure-track faculty positions upon graduation, perhaps after completing a post-doctoral position. Some of the requirements or recommendations for doctoral programs still reflect this tradition.

In recent years, however, merely possessing an advanced degree is no guarantee of getting an academic job. Universities are more reluctant to hire full-time faculty, relying increasingly on part-time teachers who earn less money, have no tenure or job security, and are not eligible for benefits.

The term "Publish or perish" refers to the increasing need for faculty to engage in research and publish regularly in order to be considered for tenure-track positions, promotions, salary increases, and so on.

As a result of these issues, many Ph.D.s enter industry-in some fields, more than 50 percent do. Others seek work in academically-related fields, such as Librarianship.

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia