Explaining employment sector choices of doctoral graduates in Germany.

This article investigates the determinants of doctoral graduates' employment sector choices in Germany, where the number of awarded doctoral degrees is the highest in the European Union and no established academic tenure-track system exists. Drawing on the wide version of rational choice theory (RCT), the study analyzes how individual preferences, objective labour market conditions, subjective career prospects, external encouragement, and individual career constraints influence sector choices, using nationally representative panel data from the 2014 doctoral cohort. The findings indicate that preferences for career advancement, security, innovation, and autonomy, alongside subject-specific labour market conditions and perceived career prospects, significantly shape whether graduates work in academia, public or private research, or non-research roles. External encouragement, particularly from doctoral supervisors, also affects sector selection, with limited encouragement for non-research careers noted. The study highlights the importance of aligning doctoral graduates' characteristics and preferences with sector-specific job attributes and calls for improved career guidance beyond academia.