Survey of Japanese companies’ attitudes toward hiring Ph.D. graduates

Purpose of this survey

The industry is becoming an important career option for Ph.D. students. For Ph.D. students who have begun to consider entering an industry, and for the university faculty and staff who supervise and support them, we present here the results of a survey of what companies want from Ph.D. graduates.

Until now, there has been a gap between the perceptions of employers and academics (Ph.D. students, faculty, and staff) regarding the qualities and abilities that employers desire in Ph.D. graduates. One of the reasons for this is that the results of the previously published surveys of companies did not clearly distinguish between those with undergraduate, master, and Ph.D. graduates. This time, we conducted a survey of companies specifically for Ph.D. graduates.

This survey was conducted by Pacific Star Communications and JMA Consultants Inc. (JMAC) at the request of the Tohoku University PhD Career Development Unit (PhDC) in September 2022.

 

Results of this survey (main points)

It has become clear that what companies expect from Ph.D. graduates are the qualities, abilities, and knowledge that Ph.D. students develop and acquire in their daily research activities, such as “research promotion, problem-setting and solution devising, and a high level of expertise in the research field. These are very different from the so-called “basic skills for working adults” required of undergraduate and master’s students.

On the other hand, “flexibility,” “high communication skills within and outside the department,” and “knowledge and education beyond the boundaries of arts and sciences” were cited as those lacking in Ph.D. graduates.

Below are the main answers for each survey item.

 

“Qualities” expected of Ph.D. graduates

・The ability to take the initiative in promoting research and development.
・A challenging spirit to tackle new challenges without fear of failure.

— “Qualities” that are lacking → Flexibility

 

“Capabilities” expected of Ph.D. students

・Ability to set problems, formulate problems, devise solutions, and realize those solutions.
・Highly specialized knowledge of specific technologies and the ability to apply them.

—” Capabilities” that are lacking → High level of communication skills both within and outside the department.

 

“Knowledge” expected of Ph.D. graduates

・High level of expertise in the field of research
・Expertise in the field of study

— “Knowledge” that is lacking → knowledge and education that transcends the boundaries of arts and sciences

 

Recruitment of foreign Ph.D. graduates

More than 55% of institutions require a high level of Japanese (JLPT N2 or higher), and more than 60% of the recruitment process is conducted in Japanese only.

 

Courses directly related to the work expected of universities

・Mathematics and AI

・Project management

・Programming (C++, Python, etc.)

 

Detailed data on the survey results

For more information on this survey (in Japanese), please click on the link below.

Survey of Japanese companies’ attitudes toward hiring Ph.D. graduates (Report: in Japanese)