To assess the quality of doctoral education in U.S. social science programs, the Center for Innovation and Research in Graduate Education (CIRGE) at the University of Washington, Seattle surveyed recent social science PhDs, asking them about the application of their education in their subsequent careers. Respondents earned the PhD between June 1995 and July 1999 in anthropology, communication, geography, history, political science, or sociology and were surveyed in 2005 – 2006, yielding career and family information spanning the time from starting graduate school to six to ten years post-PhD. With a national sample of 3,025 PhDs, the survey had a 45% response rate.

This report concludes that students in social science PhD programs are well prepared for their careers in a number of ways, but they need additional training in essential professional competencies and they need support for career preparation in order to fully utilize the knowledge and analytical skills they acquired during doctoral education. For this reason, policy recommendations at the end of this report call for a paradigm shift in PhD education. Funders, policy makers, disciplinary associations, universities, and graduate faculty need to recognize that the PhD in the 21st century is preparation for employment.