Academic and non-academic career paths of international and domestic PhD holders
Abstract
Some countries have strong culturally rooted practices and policies to incentivize their PhD candidates to develop their doctoral studies abroad. Their programs provide cultural and methodological diversity opportunities and globally oriented career prospects. In the last years, many of those countries are increasingly developing their own domestic doctoral programs, which may offer career benefits due to their strong connections to the local research and academic environment. The career paths of 126 PhD holders working in Paraguay, a country in which doctoral studies abroad intersect with national-based doctoral programs, were examined using the ECRID survey. The perceptions of those who completed their doctoral studies domestically and those who studied abroad were compared in terms of the usefulness of the skills provided by their respective PhD programs. The results showed that most PhD holders in Paraguay work full-time in the academic sector. The percentage of PhD holders employed in non-academic roles reflects the diversity of career options available to PhDs holders in the Paraguayan labour market. Furthermore, results indicated how the participants re-signified the skills acquired during the doctoral program to adapt them to various professional settings. This process underscores the emerging demands of the current labour market and the necessity for universities to adjust doctoral training models to better equip graduates for diverse professional paths. This adjustment includes institutional support to reduce cultural shock and subsequent burnout levels. Pioneering results from the Paraguayan context provide empirical evidence to enrich the reflection on the resources and opportunities for PhD holders at both structural and organizational levels.
Received: 4 July 2024
Accepted: 13 January 2025
Downloads
References
Ai, Bin, and Lifei Wang. 2017. “Homeland Integration: An Academic Returnee’s Experiences in Chinese Universities.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods 16(1): 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406917696741.
Alkubaidi, Miriam, and Nesreen Alzhrani. 2020. “‘We Are Back’: Reverse Culture Shock Among Saudi Scholars After Doctoral Study Abroad.” SAGE Open 10(4). 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020970555.
Al-Nawafleh, Ahmed, Ruqayya S. Zeilani, and Catrin Evans. 2013. “After the Doctorate: A Qualitative Study Investigating Nursing Research Career Development in J Ordan.” Nursing & Health Sciences 15(4): 423-29. https://doi.org/10.1111/nhs.12035.
Attom, Lucy Effeh, and Isaac Eshun. 2018. “Navigating through PhD programmes: experiences of ghanaian phd graduates from universities across the globe.” European Centre for Research Training and Development UK 6(6): 1-22. https://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/Navigating-through-PhD-programmes-Lucy-Final.pdf.
Baloch, Niamatullah, Luo Siming, Hong Shen, and Mir Dosteen Hoth. 2021. “Faculty Publication Productivity and Collaboration in Pakistan: Using Mixed Methods to Compare Foreign and Domestic Doctoral Degree Holders”. Higher Education Forum 18. https://ir.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/journals/HighEduForum/v/18/item/50744
Broitman-Rojas, Claudio, and Patricia Jimena Rivero. 2022. “Scientific mobility and the meanings around the utility in the production and circulation of knowledge: an analysis based on the Becas Chile Program.” Universum 37(2): 457-478. https://doi.org/10.4067/s0718-23762022000200457.
Canal-Domínguez, Juan Francisco, and César Rodríguez Gutiérrez. 2016. “Doctoral Training and Labour Market Needs. Evidence in Spain.” Research Evaluation 25(1): 79-93. https://doi.org/10.1093/reseval/rvv024.
Canolle, Fabien, and Didier Vinot. 2020. “What Is Your PhD Worth? The Value of a PhD for Finding Employment Outside of Academia.” European Management Review 18(2): 157-71. https://doi.org/10.1111/emre.12445.
Castelló, Montserrat, Marina García-Morante, Laura Díaz-Villalba, et al. 2023. “Doctoral Trends Development in Spain: From Academic to Professional Paths”. Innovations in Education and Teaching International 60(5): 736-47. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2023.2237958.
Castelló, Montserrat, Marta Pardo, Anna Sala-Bubaré, et al. 2017. “Why do students consider dropping out of doctoral degrees? Institutional and personal factors.” Higher Education, 74(6), 1053-1068. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-016-0106-9
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología - CONACYT. (2022). Indicadores de Ciencia y Tecnología. Paraguay 2021. Accessed May 13, 2024. https://www.conacyt.gov.py/indicadores-cti.
Da Wan, Chang, Aliya Kuzhabekova, and Botagoz Ispambetova. 2022. “Malaysian PhD Graduates Coming Home: Adjustment and Adaptation to the Research Ecosystem.” Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 44(6): 580- 595. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2022.2098450.
Diaz-Villalba, Laura, and Montserrat Castelló. 2024. “Formación doctoral en Paraguay: situación actual y retos pendientes.” Revista Iberoamericana de Educación Superior, 44(15). https://doi.org/10.22201/iisue.20072872e.2024.44.1891
Eduan, Wilson. 2017. “Influence of Study Abroad Factors on International Research Collaboration: Evidence from Higher Education Academics in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Studies in Higher Education 44(20)- 774-785. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1401060.
Flecha, Alma. (2018). Análisis de la producción de artículos científicos de investigadores del PRONII-CONACYT en el periodo 2011-2016. [Trabajo final de máster, Universidad Nacional de Asunción]. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14066/2706.
Ganapati, Shweta, and Tessy S. Ritchie. 2021. “Professional Development and Career-Preparedness Experiences of STEM Ph.D. Students: Gaps and Avenues for Improvement”. PLOS ONE 16(12). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260328.
García-Morante, Marina, Crista Weise, Laura Diaz Villalba et al. 2024b. “Strengths and weaknesses of PhD training to develop alternative careers. Insights from PhD holders working beyond academia.” Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education. https://doi.org/10.1108/SGPE-12-2023-0115.
García-Morante, Marina, Montserrat Castelló, and Anna Sala-Bubaré. 2024a. “PhD Holders at the Boundaries and Knowledge Brokering.” Studies in Continuing Education, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2024.2358007.
García-Morante, Marina, Laura Sundström, Kirsy Pyhältö et al. 2025. “Transitioning Beyond Academia: Engagement and Disengagement Experiences of HASS PhD Holders.” Studies in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2025.2468849.
Germain-Alamartine, Eloïse, Rhoda Ahoba-Sam, Saeed Moghadam-Saman et al. 2020. “‘Doctoral Graduates’ Transition to Industry: Networks as a Mechanism? Cases from Norway, Sweden and the UK.” Studies in Higher Education 46(12): 2680-2695. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1754783.
González-Martínez, Chelo, Peter Ho, Luis Cunha et al. 2015. “Identifying most important skills for PhD students in Food Science and Technology: a comparison between industry and academic stakeholders”. International Journal of Food Studies 4(2). https://doi.org/10.7455/ijfs/4.2.2015.a5.
Griffiths, David, Margaret Inman, Harriet Rojas et al. 2018. “Transitioning student identity and sense of place: Future possibilities for assessment and development of student employability skills”. Studies in Higher Education, 43(5), 891-913. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2018.1439719,
Huang, Qian, and Jisun Jung. 2023. “Career decision-making among Chinese doctoral engineering graduates after studying in the United States.” Higher Education Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12475.
Jiménez-Chaves, Viviana Elizabeth and Sergio Duarte Masi. 2013. “Características del perfil de los investigadores categorizados por el Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología del Paraguay.” Revista Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Sociales 9(2): 221-234. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/descarga/articulo/4714108.pdf.
Karakaş, Ali. 2020. “Disciplining Transnationality? The Impact of Study Abroad Educational Experiences on Turkish Returnee Scholars’ Lives, Careers and Identity.” Research in Comparative and International Education 15(3): 252- 272. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745499920946223.
Kuzhabekova, Aliya, Jason Sparks, and Aizhan Temerbayeva. 2019. “Returning from Study Abroad and Transitioning as a Scholar: Stories of Foreign PhD Holders from Kazakhstan.” Research in Comparative and International Education 14(3): 412-430. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745499919868644.
Kyvik, Svein, and Terje Bruen Olsen. 2012. “The Relevance of Doctoral Training in Different Labour Markets.” Journal of Education and Work 25(2): 205-224. https://doi.org/10.1080/13639080.2010.538376.
Labrianidis, Lois, Theodosis Sykas, Evi Sachini, et al. 2022. “Highly Educated Skilled Migrants Are Attracted to Global Cities: The Case of Greek PhD Holders.” Population, Space and Place 28(3): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2517.
Lamon, Séverine, Olivia Knowles, and Judy Currey. 2024 “Transitional Experiences of Australian Health Science Researchers: Where Is Academic Teaching Preparedness?” Frontiers in Educacion (9). https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1233358.
Li, Huan, and Hugo Horta. 2023. “Exploring the Identity Development of PhD Graduates Transitioning to Non-researcher Roles.” Higher Education Quarterly 78(2): 421-435. https://doi.org/10.1111/hequ.12452.
Lu, Xiao, and Paul-Brian McInerney. 2016. “Is It Better to ‘Stand on Two Boats’ or ‘Sit on the Chinese Lap’?: Examining the Cultural Contingency of Network Structures in the Contemporary Chinese Academic Labor Market.” Research Policy 45(10): 2125-2137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2016.09.001.
McAlpine, Lynn, and Montserrat Castelló. 2024. “What do PhD graduates in non-academic careers actually do? Interaction between organisation mission, job specifications and graduate lived experience.” Learning and Teaching, 17(1): 77-106.
McAlpine, Lynn, Matt Keane, and Otilia Chiramba. 2023. “Africans’ Experiences of International PhDs: Making Sense of a Spectrum of Career Mobility Trajectories.” Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education 53(7): 1206- 1224. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2021.2017769.
Mendoza-Otero, Jency Niurka, Noemí Rizo Rabelo, et al. 2021. “La formación doctoral: Estudio comparativo entre Europa y América.” Revista Universidad y Sociedad 13(4): 170-182. http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S2218-36202021000400170&lng=es&nrm=iso.
Müller, Moritz, Robin Cowan, and Helena Barnard. 2018. “On the Value of Foreign PhDs in the Developing World: Training versus Selection Effects in the Case of South Africa.” Research Policy 47(5): 886-900. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2018.02.013.
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development – OECD. (2024). International student mobility (indicator). Accessed May 16, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1787/4bcf6fc3-en.
Pablo-Hernando, Susana. 2015. “Transferring Knowledge: PhD Holders Employed in Spanish Technology Centres”. International Journal of Technology Management 68, (3/4). 228-254. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJTM.2015.069665.
Pyhältö, Kirsi, Lotta Tikkanen, Anna Sala-Bubaré, et al. 2024. “The association between PhD holders’ experiences of professional support and work engagement and burnout.” Higher Education.
Ramos, Milena Yumi, and Lea Velho. 2011. “Formação de doutores no Brasil e no exterior: impactos na propensão a migrar.” Educação & Sociedade 32(117): 933-951. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0101-73302011000400003.
Roach, Michael, and Henry Sauermann. 2017. “The Declining Interest in an Academic Career”. PLOS ONE 12(9): 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0184130.
Robertson, Margaret and Minh Nguyet Nguyen. 2021. “Robing up: Transactional identity development of Vietnamese PhD students.” Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 41(2), 312-322. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2020.1772197.
Robinson-Pat, Anna. 2009. “Changing academies: exploring international PhD students’ perspectives on ‘host’ and ‘home’ universities.” Higher Education Research & Development, 28:4, 417-429. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360903046876.
Rönkkönen, Sara, Viivi Virtanen, Marina García-Morante, et al. 2024. “STEM PhD holders working outside academia: the role of social support in career transition”. European Journal of Higher Education, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2024.2404683.
Sakurai, Yusuke, and Shannon Mason. 2023. “Foreign Early Career Academics’ Well- Being Profiles at Workplaces in Japan: A Person-Oriented Approach”. Higher Education 86(6): 1395-1413. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-022-00978-7.
Sala-Bubaré, Anna, Marina García-Morante, Montserrat Castelló et al. 2024. “PhD holders’ working conditions and job satisfaction in Spain: A cross-sector comparison.” Higher Education Research & Development, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2024.2347611.
Sala-Bubaré, Anna, Mariona Corcelles, Núria Suñé-Soler, et al. 2022. “Researchers’ Perceptions of COVID-19 Impact on Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)-Based Practices and Society’s View of Science in the First Months of the Pandemic.” Tuning Journal for Higher Education 10(1): 241-62. https://doi.org/10.18543/tjhe.2324.
Shmatko, Natalia, Yurij Katchanov, and Galina Volkova. 2020. “The Value of PhD in the Changing World of Work: Traditional and Alternative Research Careers”. Technological Forecasting and Social Change 152. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2019.119907.
Skakni, I., Kelsey Inouye, and Lynn McAlpine. 2021. “PhD Holders Entering Non- Academic Workplaces: Organisational Culture Shock.” Studies in Higher Education 47(6): 1271-1283. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2021.1876650.
Solis, Fernando, Emilce Sena, Nelly Calderon, et al. 2018. “La productividad científica paraguaya (2005 – 2015) en la web of science y google académico.” Revista Internacional de Investigación en Ciencias Sociales 14(2): 109-118. https://doi.org/10.18004/riics.2018.diciembre.109-118.
Tavares, Orlanda, Cristina Sin, and Vasco Lança. 2019. “Inbreeding and Research Productivity Among Sociology PhD Holders in Portugal.” Minerva 57(3): 373- 390. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-019-09378-1.
Valls-Figuera, Robert G., Mercedes Torrado-Fonseca, and Judith Borràs. 2023. “The Impact of International Student Mobility on Multicultural Competence and Career Development: The Case of Students from Latin America and the Caribbean in Barcelona.” Education Sciences 13(9): 869. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13090869.
Van Der Weijden, Inge, and Christine Teelken. 2023. “Precarious Careers: Postdoctoral Researchers and Wellbeing at Work.” Studies in Higher Education 48(10): 1595-1607. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2253833.
Walters, David, David Zarifa, and Brittany Etmanski. 2021. “Employment in Academia: To What Extent Are Recent Doctoral Graduates of Various Fields of Study Obtaining Permanent Versus Temporary Academic Jobs in Canada?” Higher Education Policy 34(4): 969-991. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-020-00179-w.
Copyright (c) 2025 University of Deusto

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors are required to sign and submit a copyright transfer agreement after acceptance but before publication of their manuscript. To that effect, they receive, from the Managing Editor of Tuning Journal for Higher Education, a standard copyright assignment form designed along the following lines:
1. Authorship:
The author who signs the copyright transfer agreement must be the sole creator of the work or legally acting on behalf of and with the full agreement of all the contributing authors.
2. Copyright and Code of conduct:
a) Authors warrant that their work is original; has not been previously copyrighted or published in any form; is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; its submission and publication do not violate TJHE Ethical Guidelines for Publication and any codes (of conduct), privacy and confidentiality agreements, laws or any rights of any third party; and no publication payment by the Publisher (University of Deusto) is required.
b) Authors are solely liable for the consequences that may arise from third parties’ complaints about the submitted manuscript and its publication in Tuning Journal for Higher Education (TJHE).
c) Authors grant to the Publisher the worldwide, sub-licensable, and royalty-free right to exploit the work in all forms and media of expression, now known or developed in the future, for educational and scholarly purposes.
d) Authors retain the right to archive, present, display, distribute, develop, and republish their work (publisher's version) to progress their scientific career provided the original publication source (Tuning Journal) is acknowledged properly and in a way that does not suggest the Publisher endorses them or their use of the wortk.
e) Authors warrant that no permissions or licences of any kind will be granted that might infringe the rights granted to the Publisher.
3. Users:
Tuning Journal for Higher Education is an Open Access publication. Its content is free for full and immediate access, reading, search, download, distribution and reuse in any medium or format only for non-commercial purposes and in compliance with any applicable copyright legislation, without prior permission from the Publisher or the author(s). In any case, proper acknowledgement of the original publication source must be made and any changes to the original work must be indicated clearly and in a manner that does not suggest the author’s and or Publisher’s endorsement whatsoever. Any other use of its content in any medium or format, now known or developed in the future, requires prior written permission of the copyright holder.