Questions to the employer of the PhD

Do you have any experience with employees with a PhD

degree? yes

Can you notice a difference between PhD’s from the traditional system and recent PhD’s, who benefited from the doctoral programmes in the doctoral school? Main findings.

Can not be appreciated, as majority of PhD employees finished their studies after 2002

Are they more innovative, more effective, more inventive

and taking more initiatives than their predecessors? No basic difference

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Are they more communicative, more internationally

oriented? No basic difference

Do they show more leadership in search of new products,

processes, methods? They are able to get familiar with new topics more quickly, understand and implement in

54 Conclusion

2/3 agree that the job is at least partly up to their qualifications

2/3 agree that the training as researcher and the skills and competences acquired during the doctoral programme can be used in the actual job.

Only 1/3 feel that having a PhD was an advantage in finding a job The PhD qualification is not rewarded by a higher remuneration

The employers do not see a basic difference between the “new” PhD’s and the “older” ones They feel that de PhD’s are able to get familiar with new topics more quickly, understand and implement it.

55 12. Mott Macdonald (Chech Republic) Questions to the employer of the PhD - Do you have any experience with employees with a PhD degree?

Yes. We have 10 employees with PhD degree

- Can you notice a difference between PhD’s from the traditional system and recent PhD’s, who benefited from the doctoral programmes in the doctoral school? Main findings.

There is no difference according to our experience. Usually best professional people were trying to reach the higher degree.

- Are they more innovative, more effective, more inventive and taking more initiatives than their predecessors?

No, traditional one (former CSc degree) seems to be more demanding to reach.

- Are they more communicative, more internationally oriented?

They are more internationally oriented usually with some experience working abroad.

- Do they show more leadership in search of new products, processes, methods?

Yes, to some extent.

Comments

From total of 175 employees, 140 have a university degree, including 10 with a PhD degree.

We are a Czech branch (since 1993) of a global multi disciplinary engineering consultancy with headquarters in the UK.

56 13. Mott Macdonald, Chech Republic) Question to the alumni

Questions to the PhD alumnus

- Do you feel that your actual job is up to your qualifications?

Yes, my job is fully up to my qualification.

- Can you use the training as a researcher that you got during your PhD, and the skills and competences that you acquired during the doctoral programme in your actual job?

Yes, because of the study was target on practice.

- Were the fact that you hold a PhD degree and/or the skills and competences that you acquired during your PhD studies an advantage in obtaining your first/ current job?

Yes, because of the study was target on practice.

- Your employer:

 do request PhD qualification on the position you actually hold and remunerate it

 do recognize your PhD qualification and remunerate it

 do recognize your PhD qualification but does not remunerate it

 does not request nor recognize your PhD qualification My employer recognizes it and remunerates it as well.

- Is your status on your job position different from those employees without PhD qualification?

Yes, slightly different.

57 Questions to the PhD alumnus

- Do you feel that your actual job is up to your qualifications?

Yes, I think that it is.

- Can you use the training as a researcher that you got during your PhD, and the skills and competences that you acquired during the doctoral programme in your actual job?

Is possible to work as a researcher, nevertheless PhD study from czech universities only is not sufficient. Experience from abroad and working process are necessary.

- Were the fact that you hold a PhD degree and/or the skills and competences that you acquired during your PhD studies an advantage in obtaining your first/ current job?

No, it was not.

- Your employer:

 do request PhD qualification on the position you actually hold and remunerate it

 do recognize your PhD qualification and remunerate it

 do recognize your PhD qualification but does not remunerate it

 does not request nor recognize your PhD qualification

- Is your status on your job position different from those employees without PhD qualification?

No.

58 Questions to the PhD alumnus

- Do you feel that your actual job is up to your qualifications?

No, I don’t.

- Can you use the training as a researcher that you got during your PhD, and the skills and competences that you acquired during the doctoral programme in your actual job?

Yes, I can.

- Were the fact that you hold a PhD degree and/or the skills and competences that you acquired during your PhD studies an advantage in obtaining your first/ current job?

I’m not sure but I think no.

- Your employer:

 do request PhD qualification on the position you actually hold and remunerate it No.

 do recognize your PhD qualification and remunerate it No.

 do recognize your PhD qualification but does not remunerate it No.

 does not request nor recognize your PhD qualification Yes.

- Is your status on your job position different from those employees without PhD qualification?

No.

59 Questions to the PhD alumnus

- Do you feel that your actual job is up to your qualifications?

Yes, more or less with respect to the current “crisis” situation.

- Can you use the training as a researcher that you got during your PhD, and the skills and competences that you acquired during the doctoral programme in your actual job?

Yes, some of that.

Were the fact that you hold a PhD degree and/or the skills and competences that you acquired during your PhD studies an advantage in obtaining your first/ current job?

No, I had obtained the job before I finished my PhD degree, however my employer showed some tolerance and flexibility in allowing me to work on my research.

- Your employer:

 do request PhD qualification on the position you actually hold and remunerate it

 do recognize your PhD qualification and remunerate it

 do recognize your PhD qualification but does not remunerate it

 does not request nor recognize your PhD qualification

My employer did not request my PhD qualification. He does recognize it. As to the remuneration, I am not sure if it was included as a part of the regular pay rises that took place after I finished my PhD, or not.

Is your status on your job position different from those employees without PhD qualification?

No, it is not.

60 Questions to the PhD alumnus

- Do you feel that your actual job is up to your qualifications? yes

- Can you use the training as a researcher that you got during your PhD, and the skills and competences that you acquired during the doctoral programme in your actual job? yes - Were the fact that you hold a PhD degree and/or the skills and competences that you

acquired during your PhD studies an advantage in obtaining your first/ current job? First job in Canada yes/ current job no

- Your employer:

 do request PhD qualification on the position you actually hold and remunerate it - no

 do recognize your PhD qualification and remunerate it not officially

 do recognize your PhD qualification but does not remunerate it - not officially

 does not request nor recognize your PhD qualification - I am not aware of any rules for Ph.D. degree recognition or request in the company system

- Is your status on your job position different from those employees without PhD qualification? no

61 14. Bekaert Belgium on 05.04.2011

Dr. Ir. Lisbeth Jacobs, R&D Director China

Head of the Dept. Metal transformation, Zwevegem, Belgium Bekaert Asia R&D Center, Jiangyin, Jiangsu, China

Bekaert (www.bekaert.com) is a global market leader in drawn steel wire products and applications and a technological leader in its two core competences: advanced metal transformation and advanced materials and coatings. Bekaert (Euronext Brussels: BEKB) is a global company with headquarters in Belgium, employing 27 000 people worldwide. Serving customers in 120 countries, Bekaert pursues sustainable profitable growth in all its activities and generates annual combined sales of € 4.5 billion in 2010.

Mrs. Jacobs is leading two research departments, one in Belgium and one in China, each of them consisting of 8 subgroups totaling approx. 60 researchers, two thirds of them are doctors, in particular all the subgroup leaders hold a PhD. In China almost all researchers hold a PhD.

Bekaert as a whole has an international R&D team employing 700 researchers in Belgium and China.

16 leaders of research subgroups report directly to Dr. Jacobs, 8 in Belgium and 8 and China.

Added value of the doctorate:

 Maturity (they are of course 4 to 6 years older)

 Ability to take initiative

 Independence

 Being responsible for your own results

They should be able to find by themselves the technical knowledge that they may need.

Work individually and independently: self-study, find the necessary contacts, people skills What we expect from doctors is:

 The ability to acquire independently a deep knowledge on a subject/ method

 Take initiative e.g. in experimental work. Perseverance: don’t give up, cope with failures:

find ways out

 Organisation, logistics (e.g; experiments)

62 Courses or trainings on leadership, team management and finance are not needed. If the company feels these are important, they will organize them by themselves. Doctoral students should keep the focus on their research. What is very useful is the participation of doctoral students in teaching and other didactical activities.

Career evolution:

Not depending on the diploma, but on (inter)personal skills Some grow into management and business

Others go on with research for another 10 years.

We are very happy with the quality of our (Belgian) PhD’s, although the level is lowering slightly. We insist on the importance of acquiring a deep knowledge of sciences in the first cycle.

A doctorate in collaboration with industry?

That depends on the candidate. When in a university you get more time to deepen a subject What about their creativity

Doctors are more creative than 2° cycle alumni. Not in China! Cultural differences.

The differences coming from the 2° cycle education disappear after the PhD level. All PhD’s seem to have acquired the same skills.

A Ba/Ma cycle takes 5 years: should in this short period time be spent to acquiring (inter)personal skills? (inter) personal skills can always been acquired/ improved IF the student has the natural disposition for it. Some will never become leaders, others have always been, some will be good communicators, others will not. The basic science and fundamental knowledge however cannot be improved “afterwards”

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