The Value of a STEM PhD

abstract: The quality and quantity of talented members of the US STEM workforce has been a subject of great interest to policy and decision makers for the past 40 years. Recent research indicates that while there exist specific shortages in specific disciplines and areas of expertise in the private sector and the federal government, there is no noticeable shortage in any STEM academic discipline, but rather a surplus of PhDs vying for increasingly scarce tenure track positions. Despite the seeming availability of industry and private sector jobs, recent PhDs still struggle to find employment in those areas. I argue that the decades old narrative suggesting a shortage of STEM PhDs in the US poses a threat to the value of the natural science PhD, and that this narrative contributes significantly to why so many PhDs struggle to find career employment in their fields. This study aims to address the following question: what is the value of a STEM PhD outside academia? I begin with a critical review of existing literature, and then analyze programmatic documents for STEM PhD programs at ASU, interviews with industry employers, and an examination the public face of value for these degrees. I then uncover the nature of the value alignment, value disconnect, and value erosion in the ecosystem which produces and then employs STEM PhDs, concluding with specific areas which merit special consideration in an effort to increase the value of these degrees for all stakeholders involved.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Science and Technology Policy 201