Postgraduate Level and its Impact on Professional Careers, and Job Mobility and Identity: A Study about PhD Graduates and PhD Students at UNCuyo, in the Light of a Systemic Paradigm

Abstract

The general objective is to know the emerging “typologies” that show the convergences and divergences in the representations shared by the actors belonging to different institutions and their articulation with the market. Occupational mobility refers to changes in individual occupational status. The initiative, which was a top priority on the agenda of the Secretary of University Policies, involved PhD alumni and PhD students from several programs at Cuyo University (UNCuyo, Argentina) and Cnam (France) (Social and Human Sciences). In particular, the sample included PhD candidates who began their studies after 2005 and PhD recipients who received their degrees after 2005. The model included socio-cultural, psycho-social, organizational and structural factors. The latest factors were related to the influence that the labor market could have on the professional careers as well as on the possibilities for personal development. The methodology used was quantitative (statistical analysis) but mainly qualitative (lexicometric analysis, interviews, hieralchical evocations). The methodology allowed us to acquire knowledge on the central issues concerning each PhD course in particular (contextualized scenarios), the relation to the labor market (share representations) and the differences between what was expected and what was achieved, i.e. between the prescriptive world and the real world of the actors. Additionally, a semi-structured survey was used. Macro-micro-meso-macro (systematic) was the method. Comparing shared representations at various PhD courses was made possible by the qualitative analysis, which took into consideration various "nodes" including universities, PhD degrees, the job market, professional activities, etc. The structural environment makes it challenging for PhD holders to get employment and advance their careers ("plafond" effect -- saturation of the scientific market by holders of PhDs). Although having a doctorate is advantageous, neither real occupational achievement nor occupational mobility are now guaranteed.