The effect of supervision on Ph.D. duration, publications and job outcomes

The empirical literature on the market for PH.D. graduates is generally focused on individual characteristics and their effect on scientific achievement, career prospects and/or expected earnings. In this paper, we take a closer look at the context in which graduate training takes place. Using data on 650 Ph.D. graduates from the INRA (the French National Institute of Agronomic Research) we were able to show that supervision (described by characteristics of the Ph.D. lab) strongly affects the number (and quality) of articles published during the Ph.D., as well as its overall duration. Supervision also has a significant influence on job outcomes after the ph.D. has been completed.