Muhammad Hoque

Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, South Africa

Title: Post-PhD Blues in a Non-Academic Environment: A Scoping Review

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Biography

Abstract

The transition to industry life comes with several challenges for PhD graduates, many of whom are struggling to shift their professional competencies and professional selves to non-university career pathways. Despite comprehensive doctoral training, most PhD graduates are faced with numerous challenges like misalignment of skills, lack of career developmental programs, and scarcity of industry-focused mentorship. The challenges are further added to by mental issues like anxiety, imposter syndrome, and insecurity about the job. Using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) framework, the systematic review was undertaken to retrieve 25 articles pertinent to the research. The selection was made using the keyword method to explore the databases like PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. After applying the criteria to the full-text papers and the abstracts, 25 papers were chosen to be used for extracting the data. The papers were reviewed to determine the common themes surrounding the challenges and the opportunities experienced by the graduates during the shift from academia to industry. The research presents that the universities are often failing to properly train graduates to work outside the academia to lead to underemployment and dissatisfaction. The research further presents the role played by internships, diversifying the careers, and knowledge about the industries to further the employability of the PhD graduate. It was recommended that structural reform within the academia and industries to enhance the pathways to careers and mental well-being of the graduates.