Study title

Doctoral Graduates of Years 2012-2013: Career and Employment Survey 2015

Dataset ID Number

FSD3124

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3124

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Aarresaari network of the Academic Career Services in Finland

Other Identification/Acknowledgements

• Ollikainen, Jyrki (University of Tampere. School of Information Sciences. Statistics)

Abstract

The survey charted the employment and early careers of people who had obtained a doctoral degree from Finnish universities in 2012 and 2013.

The respondents were first asked how they had financed their doctoral studies and what their reasons had been for taking up a doctoral degree. They were asked about the share of time they had spent on their doctoral dissertation during their studies alongside other work. Relating to employment situation and quality of work, questions charted what the respondents' occupational status was, how well their work corresponded to their qualifications, and what reasons had potentially hindered their employment. The respondents who were in paid work were asked their employer type, work tasks and competences needed in the work, gross monthly income, satisfaction with work, and ability to make use of skills learned in doctoral studies in their job.

With regard to the significance of a doctoral degree in occupational life, opinions were charted on whether the topic of the respondent's doctoral dissertation had been useful in employment, whether having a doctoral degree had led to an increased salary and better standing in occupational life, and whether doctoral education was useful when it came to employment and skills needed in occupational life. Relating to developing and improving doctoral education, views were probed on the guidance received during studies, satisfaction with the studies, and things that should be emphasised in the education (e.g. teaching skills, entrepreneurship).

Background variables included the respondent's gender, university, field of study, time of starting studies, and age at the time of graduation (categorised).

Keywords

career; career development; doctoral degrees; employment opportunities; higher education institutions; labour and employment; occupational life; recruitment; tertiary education (second stage)

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Higher and further education (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Employment (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Career and Employment Survey of Finnish University Graduates

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (C) available only for research including master's theses.

Data Collector

• Aarresaari network of the Academic Career Services in Finland

Time Period Covered

2012 – 2015

Collection Dates

2015

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Doctoral graduates who graduated in 2012 and 2013 from Svenska Handelshögskolan, Åbo Akademi University, Aalto University, Tampere University of Technology, Lappeenranta University of Technology, University of Vaasa, University of Helsinki, University of Jyväskylä, University of Oulu, University of Eastern Finland, University of Tampere and University of Turku.

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

Each of the participating universities sent the questionnaire to their doctoral graduates.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

49

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

In 2012-2013, a total of 3,286 doctoral students graduated from the participating universities. Of them, 1,604 (49%) responded to the survey. The number of respondents equals 48% of all doctors graduated from Finnish universities in 2012-2013 (3,373).

In accordance with the data series anonymisation plan, background variables regarding nationality, mother tongue, country, postcode and home municipality were removed to prevent identification, as well as some background variables regarding studies (year of completing studies, faculty, degree programme, major subject).

Furthermore, following open-ended variables were removed for confidentiality reasons: q13 "In which municipality does your workplace operate?", q15 "Current employer", q16 "Job title", and q32 "Municipality of residence during dissertation defence". Variable q33_1 contained the respondent's nationality and was thus removed. Variable q31 contained general comments and feedback and was removed because the number of identifiers that would have had to be removed from these responses was high considering the informational value that the responses would provide. Open-ended variables regarding previous degrees from other universities were also removed. In addition, all open-ended variables of the type "other, please specify" were removed during archiving.

Alternatives "Hanken", "University of Vaasa" and "Åbo Akademi" in variable bv1 "University" were categorised into a single category to prevent identification. Bv2 "age at the time of graduation" was also categorised (three categories: under 36, 36-45, over 45). Variable bv7 "year of starting doctoral studies" was categorised into four categories to minimise risk of identification. In addition, bv8 "field of study" was categorised according to Statistics Finland's field of education classification. The open-ended variable q23 "gross monthly income" was top-coded with regard to the persons with the highest incomes (8000 euros and over).

In addition, identifiers were removed from open-ended responses in variables q4_2, q12_1, q12_2, q27, and q30; responses in English were removed completely. Anonymisations performed at FSD were marked with [square brackets].

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Aarresaari network of the Academic Career Services in Finland: Doctoral Graduates of Years 2012-2013: Career and Employment Survey 2015 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2018-06-21). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3124

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Materials

Sainio, Juha & Carver, Eric (2016). Tavoitteidensa mukaisella työuralla. Aarresaari-verkoston tohtoriuraseuranta 2015, vuosina 2012-2013 valmistuneet [verkkodokumentti]. Aarresaari. Akateemiset rekrytointipalvelut. http://aarresaari.verkkoasema.fi/file.php?61 [viitattu 25.6.2018].

Related Publications

Sainio, J., Carver, E. (2016). Tavoitteidensa mukaisella työuralla. Aarresaari-verkoston tohtoriuraseuranta 2015, vuosina 2012-2013 valmistuneet. [verkkodokumentti]. Aarresaari. Akateemiset rekrytointipalvelut. http://aarresaari.verkkoasema.fi/file.php?61 [viitattu 3.8.2016].