In today’s skill-first culture where some companies are removing graduate degrees requirements for job candidates, the question that arises is: Are PhD degrees relevant anymore?
That a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree confers special status on the holder in Indian society is undisputable.
Enrollment in PhD courses has been increasing year on year. In 2020, more than 25,000 students were awarded a PhD with science and engineering and technology students in the lead. According to OECD data, India ranks fourth among the countries by the number of PhD degrees awarded.
However, the number of jobs requiring a PhD has been between 2,000 and 9,000 in the last five years. According to the data on job portal foundit (previously Monster APAC & ME), shared exclusively with Moneycontrol, only 26,760 jobs that were posted on the platform since January 1, 2018, listed a PhD/Doctorate degree among their requirements.
Source: Moneycontrol