Career Planning Among PhD Students in the United States: A Systematic Review of Literature

• In Event: Mapping Success: Pathways From Admission to Graduation

Abstract

We currently lack a comprehensive understanding of PhD students’ career planning and its influencing factors due to fragmented information in the existing literature. Given the growing number of PhD graduates in the United States and its mature PhD training systems, we conducted a systematic review of U.S.-based PhD students’ career planning. Using the PRISMA approach and relevant key search terms, we reviewed 39 empirical studies from 2,149 search results. Through systematic mapping and thematic analysis, we summarized the study features, illustrated the career planning process of U.S.-based PhD students, and identified three influencing factors at the individual, institutional, and societal levels. Additionally, we suggest future directions to support PhD students’ career development. (112 words)

Authors

• Kuang Li, Boston University

• Sarah Chobot Hokanson, Boston University

• Sasha Goldman, Northeastern University

• Sophie Ailsa Lewis, Boston University

• Daria Ivleva, Boston University