How PhD graduates are battling to break into academia

Academics staying in their university positions beyond retirement are good for mentoring younger scholars, but are hogging positions newly qualified researchers need to break into the higher education teaching and research space, writes Noloyiso Mtembu for the Sunday Independent.

As universities try to strike a balance between making the most of their seasoned academics and “growing green shoots”, doctoral graduates are lamenting the lack of available academic positions.

Last week it was reported that universities produced hundreds of doctoral graduates a year. According to the National Research Foundation, 15,300 people graduated with doctorates between 2005 and 2014. Universities were being urged by the Department of Higher Education and Training to produce more, but there were limited positions for them in academic and research institutions, while industry rejected them as being “overqualified”.
Full report on the IOL site