Ph.D. graduates turn their backs on business sector

By pham huong May 4, 2016 | 02:41 am PT

More than 90 percent of Ph.D. graduates in Vietnam work in the state sector, leaving the business sector starved of research and development talents, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).

There are currently 12,000 Ph.D. scholars employed in Vietnam in a wide range of fields such as economics, education and science and technology, said the National Agency for Science and Technology Information.

According to the ministry, 93 percent of Ph.D. researchers work for the government and only 6.8 percent have jobs in the private sector, while the remainder are employed by foreign-invested companies.

Statistics also show universities employ the largest number of Ph.D.s, followed by state-run institutes and research and development centers, but the number of Ph.D.s in the business sector remains low.

However, the number of Ph.D.s who conducted scientific and technological research and development activities in 2014 only accounted for 9 percent of nationwide researchers, statistics show.

Last month members of the public raised concern over a Hanoi-based institute that has been churning out a staggering number of doctorates, questioning whether it was simply a mass-production line of Ph.D. graduates.