Exploring is fun.
Why career development education is important*
Many early career academics wish they engaged with career planning earlier but only 10% have a formal career development plan.
In Australia, nearly 80% of early career academics have considered making a major career change but may report limited access to data about career prospects and suggest their institutions don’t provide a central hub for career development resources.
80% of jobs listing PhD-level skills don’t actually list a PhD as a qualification while only 11% of advertised academic jobs are for senior role above Level C.
In non-academic roles, PhD graduates often have to counter narratives of being ‘over-qualified’ or ‘over-specialised’.
Academics need to develop the skills to build successful careers both inside and outside of academia.
If this information resonates with you, then you are in the right place. Careers with Clarity is a hub for academics. We help academics create the time and space to become clearer about where they want their career to go…and why. We focus on exploring career trajectory to identify strengths and reveal gaps in motivation, networks, and transferrable skills.
We offer tailored 1:1 career development education and small group workshops to help academics who want to further their career development within academia as well as those who might be thinking about making a career pivot.
Want to learn more about what we offer?
We provide a free no obligation chat to discuss how we can best support you.
Need some simple tips for career development?
Download our free resource - Simple tips for (academic) career development.
Thinking about a career change?
Download our free resource- Thinking about a new career path.
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*Where the information comes from.
Christian K, Johnstone C, Larkins J-a, et al. A survey of early-career researchers in Australia. eLife. 2021;10:e60613.
Mantai, L., & Marrone, M. (2023). Academic career progression from early career researcher to professor: What can we learn from job ads. Studies in Higher Education, 48(6), 797–812.
Spronken-Smith R, Brown K, Cameron C. Retrospective perceptions of support for career development among PhD graduates from US and New Zealand universities. Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education. 2024;15(3):273-89.
Mewburn I, Grant WJ, Suominen H, Kizimchuk S. A machine learning analysis of the non-academic employment opportunities for PhD graduates in Australia. Higher Education Policy. 2020;33(4):799–813.
Department of Health and Aged Care. The Australian health and medical research workforce audit. Canberra: Department of Health and Aged Care; 2024.
Ta B, Hoang C, Khong H, Dang T. Australian PhD graduates' agency in navigating their career pathways: stories from social sciences. Higher Education. 2024;88(4):1525–45.
Muurlink O, Chen LA, Boorman R, et al. Stakeholder perceptions of what industry wants from doctoral students: a systematic literature review. Higher Education Research & Development. 2024;43(4):952–65.
Chen LA, Mewburn I, Suominen H. Australian doctoral employability: a systematic review of challenges and opportunities. Higher Education Research & Development. 2024;43(2):298–314.
Skakni I, Kereselidze N, Parmentier M, et al. PhD graduates pursuing careers beyond academia: a scoping review. Higher Education Research & Development. 2025;1–20.
Wider W, Wong CT, Wong YF, et al. Employment trends among postgraduate students: a bibliometric analysis. Asian Education and Development Studies. 2025;14(5):1126–54.