After PhD

INVESTIGATING THE INSERTION OF DOCTORS:

(Balance carried out in 2016 for the reacreditation of the Doctoral School 2017-2021)

We conduct surveys on an annual basis. 1 year, 3 years and 5 years after the thesis.

Feedback remains satisfactory with about 90% of responses on average. The non-response rate remains less than or equal to 10%. The rate of unemployed doctors is less than 5%. Lost doctors are mostly foreigners.

The classification as permanent and fixed-term contracts is based on a "French" definition of these terms. Indeed, some posts abroad are labelled "fixed-term contracts" because of their contractual nature, which underestimates the reality of their employment. In a context where the number of doctoral students has steadily increased between 2002 and 2006 (from nearly 400 to 753 in 2010!) and has stabilized since 2007 around 650 doctoral students and 130 annual defenses, it can be seen that more than 80% of doctors are on permanent contracts 8 years after their thesis. The 5-year surveys (2006-2009) show that this ratio tends to fall to 60%, whereas it is around 40% for 3-year surveys (2010-2012)

An analysis combining CDI and CDD shows that 50-60% of doctors still work in the research field, while the proportion of doctors working in industry fluctuates around 10% without any tendency to increase.

The analysis of the insertion of CDI doctors confirms the following trends: a gradual decrease in the recruitment of researchers and research teachers (from 40% to less than 20% within 5 years post thesis), relative stability of doctors in the health sector finding university hospital positions, relative increase in the recruitment of engineers in academic but not industrial research positions and, in turn, an increase in the number of doctors recruited on permanent contracts outside academic or industrial research. Doctors look for new types of jobs before hitting the wall of 6 years of "licensed" fixed-term contracts.

The consequence of this evolution is the significant accumulation of PhDs in academic research up to 5 years post thesis, leaving a significant but unfortunately well identified risk of abrupt dropout beyond this critical period in the current economic and legislative context. The year 2010 (5 years old) is singular in this respect and shows a net inversion of the ratio Research / Other employment on permanent contracts, presumably linked to active changes in the orientation of doctors.

The geographical distribution of former doctors shows that about 50 to 60% find work in France but this rate tends to decrease, while the average integration rate in Europe remains stable around 10% and the rest of the world around 20 to 25%. A further analysis shows that about 25% of doctors manage to find a job in the PACA region where they have passed their thesis.