An Examination of Prevailing Conditions of Unemployed PhD Graduates: A Qualitative Study

Author(s) : Muhammad Muneeb, Nadia Gilani , Syed Abdul Waheed

Abstract:

In recent years, many PhD graduates in Pakistan have protested against the government due to the lack of job opportunities and it has received much attention in the academia. This study aimed to explore the experiences of unemployed Pakistani PhD graduates and attempts to investigate how the government addresses their situation. Twelve jobless PhD graduates (both male and female) participated and they were selected through snowball sampling. Employing qualitative approach, the researchers used open-ended questions in the form of semi-structured interviews to collect data. They used the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach to analyze the data in five stages, as outlined by Smith and Osborn (2008). The results revealed five main themes related to the experiences of unemployed PhD graduates: employment demand and supply, favoritism and politics, financial crisis and job mismatch, academic career requirements, and societal pressure and financial rights. Despite high hopes for a promising career, newly qualified PhD graduates struggled to find employment opportunities in Pakistan. The study reveals an imbalance between the demand for and supply of PhD graduates in the job market. This study is assumed to contribute to the existing literature and provides support mechanisms for jobless PhD graduates and policy-makers.
Keywords: Higher Education, Demand and Supply, Academic Career, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach, Pakistan.