PhD graduates; experiences and duration PhD track
| Sex | Margins | PhD characteristics | Periods | Experiences PhD track Satisfied with PhD track as a whole (%) | Experiences PhD track Experienced (very) high work pressure (%) | Experiences PhD track Experienced inappropriate behaviour (%) | Sufficiently prepared for career In academia (%) | Sufficiently prepared for career Outside academia (%) | Average time required for obtaining PhD (Months) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total male and female | Value | Total | 2025 | 90.3 | 67.7 | 34.9 | 44.3 | 19.2 | 65.6 |
| Total male and female | Value | Time since PhD: 5 years or less | 2025 | 86.3 | 69.4 | 35.4 | 49.0 | 21.2 | 68.8 |
| Total male and female | Value | Time since PhD: more than 5 years | 2025 | 91.4 | 65.6 | 34.2 | 43.0 | 18.6 | 64.7 |
| Total male and female | Value | 01 Education | 2025 | 87.3 | 78.3 | 33.6 | 40.9 | 7.8 | 68.3 |
| Total male and female | Value | 02 Design, arts, language and history | 2025 | 85.6 | 71.0 | 31.2 | 36.1 | 8.7 | 77.3 |
| Total male and female | Value | 03 Journalism, social, behavioural sc... | 2025 | 87.7 | 66.4 | 38.1 | 47.2 | 11.3 | 65.3 |
| Total male and female | Value | 04 Law, business, administration, trade | 2025 | 90.7 | 71.2 | 34.3 | 40.3 | 15.5 | 66.8 |
| Total male and female | Value | 05 Mathematics, physical sciences | 2025 | 90.8 | 70.5 | 36.9 | 48.8 | 18.7 | 62.8 |
| Total male and female | Value | 06 Computing | 2025 | 92.3 | 68.1 | 28.8 | 49.5 | 24.1 | 60.7 |
| Total male and female | Value | 07 Engineering, manufacturing, con... | 2025 | 90.3 | 68.9 | 35.0 | 38.1 | 30.2 | 62.7 |
| Total male and female | Value | 08 Agriculture, veterinary medicine, ... | 2025 | 93.6 | . | . | 40.6 | 11.8 | 67.3 |
| Total male and female | Value | 09 Health and welfare | 2025 | 91.7 | 63.8 | 33.8 | 43.5 | 22.8 | 67.2 |
| Total male and female | Value | 10 Services | 2025 | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Total male and female | Value | Type of PhD Candidate: employee-PhD | 2025 | 89.9 | 67.7 | 37.7 | 48.7 | 17.8 | 63.3 |
| Total male and female | Value | Type of PhD Candidate: employee in PhD | 2025 | 88.5 | 74.0 | 32.4 | 39.0 | 20.3 | 73.9 |
| Total male and female | Value | Type of PhD Candidate: contract-PhD | 2025 | 92.7 | 68.6 | 30.7 | 37.2 | 23.4 | 66.0 |
| Total male and female | Value | Type of PhD Candidate: external PhD | 2025 | 90.5 | 54.5 | 22.3 | 20.9 | 18.4 | 79.7 |
| Source: CBS. | |||||||||
Table explanation
This table shows figures on how PhD graduates experienced their PhD-track and the duration of their PhD-track, by sex and PhD characteristics (time since receiving PhD, discipline and type of PhD).
The figures come from the periodically recurring Careers of Doctorate Holders survey. The study has been ongoing since 2010, and data are available from 2019 onward due to comparability. The target population consists of all individuals who have obtained their PhD at a university affiliated with the Universities of the Netherlands (UNL) since the academic year 1990/’91, who were under the age of 70 at the time of the survey, and who were residing in the Netherlands according to the Basic Registration of Persons (BRP) at that time.
Data available from: 2019.
Status of the figures:
The figures in this table are definite.
Changes as of March 25, 2026:
This table has been replaced with an improved version. Due to a labeling issue, incorrect counts were shown in the breakdown between “Time since PhD: 5 years or less” and “Time since PhD: more than 5 years”. This has now been corrected.
When will new figures be published?
It is not yet clear when the next survey will be carried out, and therefore it is unclear when new data will be published.
Description topics
- Experiences PhD track
- Satisfied with PhD track as a whole
- A person who indicated in the questionnaire that they look back (very) satisfied on their PhD trajectory as a whole.
- Experienced (very) high work pressure
- A person who indicated in the questionnaire that they experienced a (very) high workload during their PhD trajectory.
- Experienced inappropriate behaviour
- A person who indicated in the questionnaire that they experienced undesirable behavior during their PhD trajectory. This includes discrimination, verbal aggression, bullying, threats and intimidation, sexual harassment, and/or physical aggression by (co-)supervisors, supervisors, fellow PhD candidates, more senior colleagues, other colleagues, or anyone else with whom they came into contact as part of their PhD program.
- Sufficiently prepared for career
- In academia
- A person who indicated in the questionnaire that they were sufficiently prepared for a career in academia during their PhD trajectory.
- Outside academia
- A person who indicated in the questionnaire that they were sufficiently prepared for a career outside of academia during their PhD trajectory.
- Average time required for obtaining PhD
- Gross time required to complete a PhD, in months. This refers to the time between the start and end of the PhD program.