But there are difference between disciplines. PhD graduates in language & culture and nature are twice as likely to be unemployed (3.3 and 3.1 percent respectively) as their colleagues in agriculture (1.2 percent) and health (1.6 percent).

Earlier research by the Rathenau Institute and PhD Network of the Netherlands showed that more than half of PhD graduates have aspirations of an academic career, but that the number of jobs lags significantly behind the number of doctorates being conferred.

This picture has been confirmed once more. Only 30 percent finds a job at a university or a university hospital. The remaining 70 percent works typically as a researcher or for a consultancy or engineering firm where, incidentally, they tend to earn on average 7,000 euros more than universities are offering.

Highly valued

“Gaining a doctorate is not something you do for the sole purpose of getting a career at a university,” concludes Melanie Peters, director of the Rathenau Institute. “In our knowledge-based society, the PhD study is often preparation for a job in which the PhD graduate's knowledge and research skills are highly valued.”

In producing its career analysis, the Rathenau made grateful use of a survey by Statistics Netherlands. In 2014 this questioned 16,000 individuals who had gained a PhD in the preceding 22 years.

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