PhD graduates ‘look overqualified’ for university administration

PhD graduates are filling administrative roles within higher education because they offer flexibility and a better work-life balance, but they still face barriers including being thought of as overqualified, a new study has found.

Researchers at the University of Arizona looked into the experiences of those taking alternative career paths within US universities after completing their doctoral studies amid a climate of increased competition for tenure-track academic posts.

Authors Allison Ewing-Cooper and Kathryn Gallien, who both have PhDs and work in administrative positions themselves, found that although all 12 of their interviewees were positive about their decision and valued the job security it offered, many still faced barriers, with employers assuming they wouldn’t be satisfied in their role and so wouldn’t stay long.

Their study, published in Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, recommends universities take steps to address these prejudices faced by these PhD graduates and consider revamping careers advice so that it is no longer assumed that all doctoral candidates wish to become academics. They have also called for the introduction of hybrid positions that combine administration with teaching and research.

Dr Gallien, who works as an academic adviser at Arizona’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, told Times Higher Education that she and Dr Ewing-Cooper had “wondered about the career trajectories of people like ourselves”.

Dr Gallien said she had overheard a conversation between two non-PhD staff members in which they expressed surprise that “so many” applicants with PhDs had applied for a job as a new graduate programme coordinator. One staff member was heard to say it was “so sad” as anyone with a PhD would not stay in a staff position long before moving on to take a faculty position.

“In that brief interaction, I felt I had overheard what I feared many staff members thought about people with PhDs working in administration,” she added.

“Allison and I have always been happy in our career choices, and so the assumption that PhD graduates should not be in lower administrative positions or that there was something sad about it was another aspect we both wanted to explore.”

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com