More than one in four doctorate degree recipients from Seoul National University were unemployed last year, statistics showed Monday, the highest ratio in 10 years that indicates the country’s most prestigious university is no exception to the tightening job market.

According to SNU’s annual statistics on employment and careers of graduates, out of 1,054 people who earned doctoral degrees from the school between August 2010 and February 2011, 289 or 27.4 percent were unemployed.

The unemployment rate for SNU doctoral recipients was only 15.4 percent in 2009 but has accelerated at a fast pace to reach the 25 percent mark in 2010, the report said.
Meanwhile, the employment rate for SNU doctorate graduates, excluding those who are drafted to two years of mandatory military service, has dipped from 87.9 percent in 2002 to 70.3 percent in 2011, the report added.

Among the doctoral degree holders, 23 percent of them pursued post-doctoral fellowships outside of the country, 15.9 percent found jobs at schools, 14.3 percent at corporations and 9.9 percent at domestic post-doctoral fellowships, it added.

According to a separate SNU survey, 20.2 percent of 252 people who received doctorate degrees in the same period said they are “undecided on their careers,” which is more than double the rate for people with master’s degrees. 

(Yonhap News)