Institutional mechanisms supporting PhD graduates' transition into diverse careers

The need to rethink doctoral education towards career diversification has been a global debate in recent decades. Previous research has examined the skills developed as part of doctoral education, those transferable to positions beyond academia, and the challenges PhD graduates face in transitioning from academia to other sectors. However, few studies have focused on PhD graduates' career preparation for diverse careers from a policy perspective. This chapter aims to contribute to this literature using a policy framework lens (Lakhno, 2023). From an exploratory perspective, we examined institutional documents—focusing on transitions to careers beyond academia— at the European level and national and university levels in five countries: Belgium, Finland, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. We built and analysed this corpus using a document analysis approach (Bowen, 2009). Our findings reveal trends in how support for PhD graduates in their transition to diverse careers is envisioned and ultimately implemented. Two broad institutional support frameworks emerged - the first focuses on preparing PhD graduate for diverse types of careers, the second on preparing them for diverse research careers - with respective guiding policy objectives. Implications for policy and practice and education and learning at the doctoral level are discussed.