“The Doctorate in all its States:
nature and perception of the doctorate worldwide”
International conference on doctoral studies (CID), 2nd edition
Paris, 20th of November 2015
Call for communication
The doctorate is usually considered as the highest internationally recognized diploma.
It concludes a research experience, of variable duration depending on the country and field of
research (see e.g. Kehm, 2006). The doctorate also has different designation depending on the
country. The "Ph.D." (Philosophiæ doctor) is typically used in North American countries such as
USA and Canada. Apart from duration and designation, the doctorate may correspond to
different realities depending on the country. Lanciano-Morandat and Nohara (2005) listed
seven main differences depending on the considered country (namely USA, Japan, France,
Germany and England): funding of doctoral program, characteristics of doctoral students,
implicit contract between student and director, PhD training-career transition, academic labor
market, PhD status in Industry and career path.
From 1997, the Lisbon Agenda attempted to unify doctoral education and training in
Europe. The Bologna conference (and the 29 signatory countries) officially recognized the
doctorate as the third qualification of a three stages higher education system comprising the
Bachelor, the Master and, finally, the Doctorate. Nevertheless, many diferences still exist in
Europe with respect to doctoral education practices (Lanciano-Morandat & Nohara, 2005;
Kehm, 2006), doctorate holders career opportunities (LERU, 2007 ; Kubler et Wester, 2007;
Borrell- Damian et al. 2009 ; Calmand et Giret, 2010; Vitae, 2010, 2013; Auriol, 2010; Auriol et
al. 2013; CFE Research, 2014) and in its recognition (Lambin & Etienne, 2010; Cyranoski, Gilbert,
Ledford, Nayar, & Yahia, 2011; CFE Research, 2014).
The goal of this conference will be to compare the situation of doctoral candidates and
doctorate holders and their evolution in France and in other countries, to review studies made
worldwide on these questions and to derive perspectives for the evolution of the doctorate in
a national and international context.
The conference ambition is to consider the doctorate from a scientific point of view and in its
different dimensions: cultural, educational, professional, etc. From the communications that
will be presented during the conference, we will try to draw up good practices and ways to
currently promote the doctorate.
The conference will be organized according to three main sections:
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Section 1: "Doctoral education : practices, experimentations and added-value of
doctoral candidates in the global research system"
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Section 2: "Professional opportunities, mobility and recognition of doctorate
holders competencies in the employment market"
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Section 3: "Good practices for researchers’ career in EU: impact of the Charter and
Code ten years on"
Axe 1: "Doctoral education: practices, experimentations and added-value of
doctoral candidates in the global research system"
The global doctoral education panorama can be very different from one country to
another one: in Europe, more than one thousand universities are involved in doctoral
education, whereas in the United States for instance, there are only about 400 PhD awarding
institutions (League of European Research Universities, 2007). In France, the doctorate is legally
recognized as a professional experience (arrêté du 7 août 20061), which might not be the case
in all countries.
Differences also occurs in the role and relationships between the doctoral candidate and
his/her supervisor. Lanciano-Morandat & Nohara (2005) evidenced different types of implicit
contract between these two main protagonists of doctoral education, focused mainly on
scientific interactions (UK), to a more inter-personal implication (Germany). Promotion of
doctoral candidates’ employability may also take different aspects such as the clarification and
promotion of researcher’s competencies, the introduction of non scientific trainings in doctoral
education and other initiative as reviewed for instance by the LERU (Bogle, 2014).
Communication in this section should address new innovative practices in doctoral training
and/or scientific evaluation of existing practices in doctoral education inside or outside Europe.
1
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000267752
Section 2: “PhDs ‘Employment market, mobility and competencies’ recognition”
In France, as in the UK, Australia and Canada, the majority of recently graduated (usually
3 years on) doctorate holders are involved in research and/or teaching activities, between 56%
and 75% depending on the country (LERU, 2007 ; Kubler et Wester, 2007; Borrell- Damian et
al. 2009 ; Calmand et Giret, 2010; Vitae, 2010, 2013; Auriol, 2010; Auriol et al. 2013; CFE
Research, 2014). In France, the situation evolves after 4 to 6 years with a lower share of PhDs
involved in research activities (from 70% to 60%, Apec 2015). In European companies, 48% of
PhDs are initially recruited as researchers and only 30% of them remain in R&D position after 5
to 10 years in the company (Borrell-Damian et al. 2009, p.80). The situation is rather different
in the US where four out of five researchers work in the business sector (League of European
Research Universities, 2007).
Communication in this section should present studies related to the employment market
and/or career paths of doctorate holders, their evolution over time, and possible new emerging
or unusual doctorate holders career paths in Europe and outside Europe. The goal is to provide
a broad panorama of the commonalities and differences of doctorate holders’ employment
market, career paths and competencies recognition in the different countries.
Section 3: “Good practices for researchers’ career in EU: what is the impact of the
Charter and Code ten years on”
In 2005, the European Charter for researchers and Code of conduct for the recruitment of
researchers have been adopted to reduce heterogeneity in researchers recruitment processes
and to clarify the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers and their employers or
funding organizations (European Union, European Commission, & Directorate-General for
Research, 2005). These charter and code are strongly supported by the European “Human
Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R)” and its “HR Excellence in Research” 2 label,
delivered on the basis of the progress reported by the research structure. These good practices
are dedicated to the recruitment of any researcher including in its very early career including
doctoral candidates as stated by the European Union3 (European Union et al., 2005).
This third section is dedicated to the European Researcher Charter and Code and its
possible impact ten years on, as measured through scientific empirical methods. A debate over
the possible evolution of these tools or new interesting HR tools4 will close the presentations.
References
APEC. (2015). Les jeunes docteurs : profil, parcours, insertion. Les études de l’emploi cadre
n°2015-12. Paris : Agence Pour l’Emploi des Cadres
Auriol, L. (2010). Careers of doctorate holders : employement and mobility patterns. STI
working paper 2010/4. Paris: OECD
Auriol, L., M. Misu and R. A. Freeman (2013), “Careers of Doctorate Holders: Analysis of
Labour Market and Mobility Indicators”, OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working
Papers, 2013/04, OECD Publishing.
Bogle, D. (2014). Good Practice Elements in Doctoral Training. Advice paper n° 15. Leuven:
League of European Research Universities.
Borrell-Damian, L., Morais, R., & Smith, J. H. (2009). Collaborative doctoral education in
Europe : research partnerships and employabiliy for researchers. Bruxelles: EUA.
CEREQ (2010). L’insertion des docteurs : Enquête Génération 2004. Interrogation 2007.
Rapport d’enquête. Marseille : Centre d’Etude sur l’Emploi et les Qualifications.
2
http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/index.cfm/rights/strategy4Researche
3
“The term Early-Stage Researcher refers to researchers in the first four years (full-time equivalent) of their
research activity, including the period of research training.”
4
http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/pdf/research_policies/SGHRM-WG1-on-HR-Issues-Finalreport-May-2012.pdf
CFE Research. (2014). The impact of doctoral career. Final Report. Leicester: CFE Research.
Cyranoski, D., Gilbert, N., Ledford, H., Nayar, A., & Yahia, M. (2011). The Phd factory. Nature
news n° 472.
ERA-SGHRM Working Group. (2012). Human Resources issues, including the HRS4R and
other examples of good practices not directly linked to the Charter&Code. Final report.
http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/pdf/research_policies/SGHRM-WG1-on-HR-Issues-Finalreport-May-2012.pdf
European Commission. (2005). PRESS RELEASES - Qu’est-ce qu’un chercheur? La Commission
européenne définit ses rôles et ses responsabilités. http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP05-282_fr.htm?locale=FR
European Union, European Commission, & Directorate-General for Research. (2005). Charte
européenne du chercheur: Code de conduite pour le recrutement des chercheurs = The
European Charter for researchers : the Code of conduct for the recruitment of researchers.
Luxembourg: EUR-OP.
Kehm, B. M. (2006). Doctoral education in Europe and North America: A comparative
analysis. Wenner Gren International Series, 83, 67.
Kubler, M., & Wester, M. (2007). Phd graduates 5 to 7 years out: employment outcomes, job
attributes and the quality of research training. Summary results for the Australian National
University.
http://researchsuper.chelt.anu.edu.au/sites/researchsuper.chelt.anu.edu.au/files/797summ
aryresultsgrad%282%29.pdf
Lambin, P., & Etienne, C. (2010). Les besoins en compétences dans les métiers de la
recherche à l’horizon 2020 Synthèse de l’étude APEC/DELOITTE. Paris : Agence Pour l’Emploi
des Cadres.
Lanciano-morandat, C., & Nohara, H. (2003). The new production of young scientists (PhDs):
a labour market analysis in international perspective (No. 03-04). DRUID Working Paper.
League of european research universities. (2007). Doctoral studies in Europe : excellence in
researcher training.
http://www.leru.org/files/general/%E2%80%A2Doctoral%20Studies%20in%20Europe%20Ex
cellence%20in%20Researcher%20Training%20(May%202007).pdf
VITAE. (2010). What do researchers do? Doctoral graduate destinations and impact three
years on. Cambridge: VITAE
VITAE. (2013). What do researchers do? Early career progression of doctoral graduates.
Cambridge: VITAE
This call for communications is opened to:
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Doctoral candidate and doctorate holders conducting reflexive research on Higher
Education and Research practices as well as to researchers conducting studies on the
doctoral experience, be it considered as a research training or as a professional
experience.
Doctoral candidate and doctorate holders engaged in the improvement of doctoral
candidate working conditions as well as promoting their research, whatever their actual
field of research
Practical information:
Communications will take the form of a 15 min talk + 5 min questions. A final discussion with
the audience will take place at the end of each section.
Propositions should be sent to the scientific comity before the 7th of October 2015 by email at:
[email protected]
Every proposition will be submitted as a 300 word summary going along with related references
in .doc or .pdf format. Submissions should include the full name and surname of the participant
as well as affiliations.
Notification of acceptance will be addressed by email on 15th of October 2015.
A summary of accepted publications will be broadcasted online through the conference
website: http://cid.docteo.net/
Financial support for mobility may be attributed to authors with accepted communication upon
request and at the discretion of the executive and scientific board of the conference.
Members of the Scientific Committee:
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Jean CHAMBAZ, President, University Pierre et Marie Curie (France)
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Jean-Claude Coallier, Full professor and Director of the Master’s Program in Education,
University of Sherbrooke (Canada)
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Pierre Demeulenaere, Professor of sociology, University Paris- Sorbonne (France)
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Francisco Loiola, Professor, University of Montreal (Canada)
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Alison Mitchell, Director of Development, VITAE (UK)
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Jean Gabin Ntebutse, professor, University of Sherbrooke (Canada)
Event partners are: