Survey on the Role of Doctoral Degree Holders in Society 2016

The survey investigated the employment and career development of doctoral degree holders in working life. The importance of academic skills and abilities in working life and their broader impact in society were also charted. The survey was related to the Academy of Finland Report on the State of Scientific Research in Finland, which charted the resources and publishing activities of universities and research institutions as well as the broader impact of scientific research in society. The respondents were first asked where they had worked before, during and after their dissertation research and the number of different employers they had had after the dissertation. The respondents' employers and work tasks at the time of the survey were studied. The importance of academic skills and abilities was studied by asking the respondents which skills had been important for them, in which contexts the skills had been useful, and if the respondents had gained any added value in the workplace from being a doctor. Broader impact of academic skills was studied by asking the respondents about the expert communities they belonged to and the ways their work activities related to academic research. Factors influencing the impact of the respondents' academic skills were studied with a number of statements. The background variables included the year when the respondent obtained the doctor's degree, university and field of study, age, and gender.