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Academic breeding grounds: Home department conditions and early career performance of academic researchers

Author

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  • Broström, Anders

    (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology)

Abstract
This study investigates how research group characteristics relate to the early career success of PhD candidates who are trained in the group. In particular, we study how the citation impact of early-career PhDs is related to the staff composition and the funding of the group. Using data on a cohort of Swedish doctoral graduates in science, engineering, mathematics and medicine, two sets of findings are obtained. First, students who were trained in groups with a lower number of PhD students perform better in terms of academic productivity. From the perspective of research policy, this finding suggests a decreasing return to funding additional PhD student positions allocated to professors already maintaining larger research groups. Second, PhD students trained in groups whose funding for PhD research is conditioned by funder influence over the topic of thesis research are more likely to stay in academia. Controlling for career destination, however, PhDs from such groups have lower than average scientific productivity and citation impact. These results suggest that funders of PhD studies face a trade-off between the two different funding objectives of “getting what they want” in terms of research content and fostering successful scholars.

Suggested Citation

  • Broström, Anders, 2018. "Academic breeding grounds: Home department conditions and early career performance of academic researchers," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 465, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0465
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Graddy-Reed, Alexandra & Lanahan, Lauren & D'Agostino, Jesse, 2021. "Training across the academy: The impact of R&D funding on graduate students," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(5).
    3. Azoulay, Pierre & Greenblatt, Wesley H. & Heggeness, Misty L., 2021. "Long-term effects from early exposure to research: Evidence from the NIH “Yellow Berets”," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    4. Daniel L Belavy & Patrick J Owen & Patricia M Livingston, 2020. "Do successful PhD outcomes reflect the research environment rather than academic ability?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(8), pages 1-14, August.
    5. Plantec, Quentin & Cabanes, Benjamin & le Masson, Pascal & Weil, Benoit, 2023. "Early-career academic engagement in university–industry collaborative PhDs: Research orientation and project performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(9).
    6. Corsini, Alberto & Pezzoni, Michele & Visentin, Fabiana, 2022. "What makes a productive Ph.D. student?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    7. Mignon Wuestman & Koen Frenken & Iris Wanzenböck, 2020. "A genealogical approach to academic success," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(12), pages 1-16, December.
    8. García-Suaza, Andrés & Otero, Jesus & Winkelmann, Rainer, 2018. "Early Career Research Production in Economics: Does Mentoring Matter?," IZA Discussion Papers 11976, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Buenstorf, Guido & Heinisch, Dominik P., 2020. "When do firms get ideas from hiring PhDs?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(3).
    10. Wuestman, Mignon & Wanzenböck, Iris & Frenken, Koen, 2023. "Local peer communities and future academic success of Ph.D. candidates," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(8).
    11. Quentin Plantec & Benjamin Cabanes & Pascal Le Masson & Benoit Weil, 2021. "Market-Pull Or Research Push? Effects Of Research Orientations On University-Industry Collaborative Ph.D. Projects' Performances," Post-Print halshs-03190142, HAL.
    12. Andrés García-Suaza & Jesús Otero & Rainer Winkelmann, 2020. "Predicting early career productivity of PhD economists: Does advisor-match matter?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(1), pages 429-449, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    academic careers; PhD studies; research funding; research group; research performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

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