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Exploring the Demand for PhDs in Public Affairs and

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 Exploring the Demand for PhDs in
Public Affairs and Administration
Dianne Rahm, Vicki Brittain, Christopher Brown, Charles Garofalo,
Nandhini Rangarajan, Patricia Shields, and Hyun Jung Yun
Texas State University

ABSTRACT
This study provides a preliminary analysis of the market for PhDs in public affairs and admini­-
stra­tion projected over the next several years. Drawing on data gathered from three surveys, we
explore the demand for academic PhDs (survey 1) and the supply of PhDs (surveys 2 and 3).
The analysis of demand is further refined to estimate nonacademic employment (surveys 2 and 3
and examina­tion of job postings). We also explore the diversity of PhD graduates. This kind of
analysis is largely missing from the literature and is therefore an important, albeit initial contri­
bution. We found that a gap exists between production of PhDs and the demand for them by
universities, and that demand exceeds production. The gap is made much larger, though, because
almost half of the PhDs graduating with degrees in public affairs and administration do not take
positions in U.S. academia but rather assume positions in federal state and local governments, in
the nonprofit sector, in think tanks, and in foreign universities and governments.

KEYWORDS
PhD job market, PhD job placement, PhDs in public affairs and administration

In its December 16, 2010, edition, The Econ­
omist published an article entitled “The Dis­
posable Academic: Why Doing a PhD Is Often
a Waste of Time” (Anonymous, 2010). This
article pointed to the frequent complaint about
overproduction of PhDs. Though the article
did not investigate specific fields of training, it
does raise an important question: Are U.S.
universities graduating too many PhDs? For
our purpose, the more pressing question is, are
U.S. universities graduating too many PhDs in
public administration?
To answer that question, it is necessary to
determine the market need for PhDs in public
administration. That is not easy to do, since
there is no national data set to draw upon.
Some national data are available to provide
some sense of the direction of job growth in the
postsecondary teaching market. For instance,
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
expects a 19% growth (faster than average) in
postsecondary teaching jobs nationally between
2012 and 2022. BLS predicts a net increase of
236,400 PhD-level postsecondary teachers in
all fields during this period (Bureau of Labor
Statistics, 2014). Unfortunately, the BLS does
not provide labor growth for public admini­
stration postsecondary teachers. Although pol­
itical science PhDs are usually tracked, most
available national data sets do not separately
examine public administration or public affairs
and administration.
We decided to investigate the demand for PhDs
in public affairs and administration by drawing
on survey data gathered from the likely
employers of PhD graduates of public affairs

JPAE 21 (1), 115–128 Journal of Public Affairs Education 115

D. Rahm et al.
and administration programs that we believe
to be Master of Public Administration (MPA)
pro­grams. The data collected allowed us to
project the future employment needs of schools
that offer MPA programs. Drawing on two
additional surveys, we examined the graduation
and placement trends from PhD programs of
public affairs and administration. By matching
the projected need with projected production
of PhD graduates in public affairs and
administration, we determined that a gap exists
between those being produced and those need­
ed in the U.S. postsecondary teaching market.
We also examined the other placement venues
for PhD graduates from programs of public
affairs and administration, including U.S.
uni­­­versities but not as professors, U.S. federal
gov­ernment, U.S. state government, U.S. local
governments, the nonprofit sector, think tanks,
the private sector, foreign universities, and
foreign governments. We did this by examining
job listings looking for a required or preferred
qualification of a PhD.
We begin this article with a brief literature re­
view that generally explores the need for PhDs,
in all fields, in the United States. We then de­
scribe our survey methods and present find­ings
from three surveys we administered. We pro­ceed
to a discussion of the findings of the sur­veys
and the implications of those findings, in­
cluding the large nonacademic employment of
PhDs in public affairs and administration. We
end with conclusions re­garding the like­li­hood of
a projected near-term gap (or overproduction)
of PhDs in public affairs and administration.
LITERATURE REVIEW
For some time, scholars have been exploring
the question of the optimum level of produc­
tion of PhDs in the United States. The literature
is often contradictory, depending on when the
research was undertaken. Indeed, since the
1950s, the market demand for PhDs can be
best described as a boom-or-bust market
depending on certain variables. In the 1950s
and 1960s, the United States was in strong
competition with the Soviet Union, thus
creating an enormous demand for scientists
116 Journal of Public Affairs Education
and engineers, in particular. Undergraduate
enrollments were high. The market for PhDs
boomed (Youn, 2005).
In the 1970s the Ford Foundation supported a
number of studies to explore the issue of the
ideal level of production of PhDs. Breneman
(1970) looked at Berkeley PhD graduates and
time to degree in 28 departments based on
mar­­ket demand. The primary concern was to
see if universities were producing enough PhDs
to meet the market demand. Balderston and
Rad­ner (1971) provided projections of plaus­
ible academic demand for PhDs from the
1970s to the 1990s. Again, the goal was to pro­
vide university administration the infor­mation
they needed to tailor their production of PhDs
to meet market demand. Freeman and Bren­e­
man (1974) also addressed whether enough
PhDs were being produced to meet the ex­
pected manpower crisis of the 1970s and 1980s.
This line of thought, however, was countered
by Abramson (1975) of the Bureau of Labor
Statistics: He argued that by the mid-1980s,
projected production of PhDs would far exceed
market demand. Undergraduate enrollments
had begun to decline in the mid-1970s. By the
mid-1980s, the “baby bust” generation would
constitute the entering college class. Demand
for faculty would likely wane. But by the late
1980s and early 1990s, faculty who started
their careers in the 1950s and 1960s began to
retire, once again creating a demand. Barkume
(1996) argued that growing college enrollments
and faculty retirements would boost the market
for PhDs in the following decade. The National
Science Foundation (NSF) also released a
report in the mid-1990s predicting a severe
shortage of PhD scientists by 2000 (Hartle &
Galloway, 1996). Trends in the late 1990s also
pointed to PhD scientists and engineers finding
new pathways to employment in business and
industry (Tobias, Chubin, & Aylesworth,
1996). Bowen and Sosa’s (1989) prediction was
for a healthy academic market through 2012.
But the anticipated recovery did not occur.
Despite increased university enrollments, the
number of faculty jobs did not grow
substantially in the 1990s (Shapiro, 2001).
 Exploring the Demand for PhDs in Public Affairs and Administration
Since the turn of the 21st century, research on
the PhD job market has increasingly focused
on specific fields due to the wide variation
between fields. By 2000, there were signs that
the job market for PhD scientists and engineers
was improving (Finn, 2001). National Science
Foundation data showed that within 3 years of
graduation, holders of PhDs had overall low
rates of unemployment although there was
variation among fields. For instance, political
science PhDs had 3.4% unemployment while
economics PhDs had 0.5% (Jones, 2002).
Golicic, Bobbitt, Frankel, and Clinton (2004)
examined the field of logistics and found that
when demand for those graduates was high,
PhD programs grew to supply the next wave of
teachers and that when demand fell off, the
new PhDs could not find jobs. Hobbs, Weeks,
and Finch (2005) demonstrated the high
demand for finance professors, and Basil and
Basil (2006) explored the continuing shortage
of PhDs in marketing. In 2007 a survey of
3000 new PhDs in anthropology, com­mun­
ications, geography, history, political science,
and sociology revealed that while most grad­
uates eventually found full-time em­ploy­ment
in their fields, many struggled in the period
immediately after getting their degrees (Byrne,
2007). In one of the few studies focusing on
PhDs in public affairs and administration,
Cordes, Conger, Ladd, and Luger (2008)
reported that of the new PhD recipients of
public affairs degrees in 2004, employment was
found in a wide assortment of places including
U.S. academia (42%), govern­ ment (18%),
industry or self-employed (6%), and non-U.S.
employers (13%).
SURVEY METHODS
The likely primary employer of new graduates
from PhD programs in public affairs and
administration will be the postsecondary
teacher market. One way to determine the true
need of the postsecondary teaching market for
public administration PhD graduates, there­
fore, is to discern the hiring practices of MPA
programs and to compare those numbers with
the actual graduates being produced nationally
by PhD programs in public affairs and
administration or political science PhD
programs with a strong major subfield in public
administration. By doing so, we will be able to
project for the near future the needed number
of academic PhDs in public affairs and
administration, how many are actually being
produced, and where they take employment.
The next section describes how we did this and
reports the results of our data gathering.
In October and November of 2013, we
developed three surveys: an MPA Program
Directors survey, a NASPAA-listed PhD Pro­
gram Directors survey, and a PhD Program
Directors survey for schools offering a PhD in
political science with a strong major subfield
in public administration.
The MPA Program Directors survey was sent
to the 283 MPA directors identified with the
MPA programs listed on the NASPAA website.
Twenty-two of those individuals asked to be
removed from the study, resulting in a total
population of 261. From that population, 123
completed surveys were received, giving a
response rate of 47%. This survey assumed
that these MPA programs would be likely
employers of PhD graduates from programs of
public administration and public affairs. The
survey asked a series of questions regarding
hiring practices of the MPA programs.
The NASPAA-listed PhD Directors Survey was
sent to 78 program directors identified by
NASPAA personnel as the appropriate contact
persons. Five of those contacted declined to
participate, leaving a population of 73. Of
those, 41 directors completed the survey, giving
a response rate of 56%. This survey asked
questions about the program’s graduates and
their placement. We did not concern ourselves
with the name of the degree itself; rather, we
assumed that NASPAA-listed PhD programs
would be teaching subject matter that would
qualify graduates to teach in MPA programs.
The final survey was sent to the 20 schools that
we identified from a national search of PhD-
granting political science institutions. We
searched their web pages to determine major
areas of focus. We identified 20 that seemed to
have a substantial focus or strong subfield in
Journal of Public Affairs Education 117
D. Rahm et al.
Table 1.
Full Time Hiring of Public Administration Professors for MPA Programs
Last Three Years
Position N Hires
Tenure track 157
Tenured 23
Adjunct/contract 92
Total number of hires
272
(three-year period)
Average number of annual
91
full-time positions
Source. Authors’ data (N =123).
public administration. Of those program dir­
ectors, 2 asked to be removed from the study,
leaving 18 schools in our population. Of these,
10 directors responded to the ques­tionnaire,
yield­ing a response rate of 56%. This survey
asked questions about the placement of the
program’s graduates with a specialization in
public administration.
SURVEY FINDINGS: MPA PROGRAM DIRECTORS
Because we assumed that a key market demand
for PhDs in public administration and public
affairs would be as faculty in U.S. academia and
that a main placement avenue would be to
teach in MPA programs, we asked MPA
directors about their hiring practices. We
inquired about hiring in the last three years,
and we asked the MPA directors to project
hiring in the next three years. Table 1 shows
these results for full-time hiring. As Table 1
shows, the 123 program directors responding
indicate that over the last three years, they hired
272 tenure track, tenured, or adjunct/contract
full-time professors of public administration for
their programs, or an average of 91 per year.
Table 1 also shows that the projections of hir­
ing for the next three years are reasonably
consistent with history—that is, a projection of
252 positions in the next three years for the
123 programs or 84 positions per year for the
118 Journal of Public Affairs Education
Next Three Years
Position N Hires
Tenure track 146
Tenured 26
Adjunct/contract 80
Total number of hires
252
(three-year period)
Average number of annual
84
full-time positions
123 programs. This result corresponds to a per
program average hiring rate of 0.68 full-time
hires per program per year.
If these findings of future need are generaliz­-
able to all NASPAA MPA programs and are
extrapolated to include all 283 NASPAA
MPA programs, then the near future annual
hiring demand for full-time public admin­
istration faculty positions from all NASPAA
MPA programs will be about 192 positions
per year (at least until hiring trends change).
The survey asked the MPA directors about the
hiring of PhD-level part time public admini­
stration professors for the prior three years as
well as their projections for the next three years
of hiring. Table 2 shows these results. As Table
2 shows, these 123 programs project a slight
reduction in the number of part-time posi­
tions, dropping from an annual average of 64
a year in the past to 60 a year in the future for
the group of 123 programs responding to the
survey, or a future annual average of 0.49 hires
per year per program.
Table 3 shows that if these findings of future
need are generalizable to all NASPAA MPA
programs and are extrapolated to include all
283 NASPAA MPA programs, then the
number of part-time public administration job
 Exploring the Demand for PhDs in Public Affairs and Administration
Table 2.
Part-Time Hiring of Public Administration Professors for MPA Programs
Last Three Years
Position N Hires
Teach only one class 123
Teach more than one class 70
Total number of hires
193
(three-year period)
Average number of annual
64
full-time positions
Source. Authors’ data (N =123).
positions for PhD-level applicants will be about
139 per year from all NASPAA MPA programs.
Combined part-time and full-time demand
from all 283 NASPAA MPA programs for
PhD-level professors will therefore be about
331 per year, at least for the next several years.
To determine if there is a shortage of qualified
PhD-level candidates to fill open positions, the
survey asked MPA directors two related ques­
tions. First, the directors were asked if they
have ever hired a PhD in another discipline
when they really wanted to hire a PhD in pub­
lic administration. Nearly one third (32%) of
respondents said yes. Second, MPA directors
were asked if they had ever tried to hire a person
with a PhD in public administration but had
been unable to find one to fill their need. A
surprising 38% of MPA directors answered yes
to that question. Table 4 shows these results.
To probe a bit deeper into the need for specific
qualifications, the survey asked MPA directors
to indicate which specializations for MPA
staffing they believe are going to be in the
highest demand in the coming years. Table 5
summarizes these results and shows that the
greatest future demand lies in the specialization
areas of nonprofit management and budgeting
and finance.
Next Three Years
Position N Hires
Teach only one class 120
Teach more than one class 61
Total number of hires
181
(three-year period)
Average number of annual
60
full-time positions
The survey asked several questions about div­
ersity. First, we asked MPA directors if there
was typically adequate diversity in their hir­-
ing pools. Half (50%) of respondents said no.
Of the respondents who had said no, we asked
what ethnic or racial groups they thought were
underrepresented. The largest category was
Black or African American (91%), and His­pan­
ic or Latino was not far behind (75%). When
we asked all respondents if they thought they
might have difficulty meeting NASPAA’s Div­
ersity Standard 3.2 in their next accreditation,
30% of respondents indicated they would. The
reasons varied, but the most common reason
given was the lack of Black and Hispanic
candidates in hiring pools. The second most
common reason provided was the difficulty of
finding competitive salary packages to recruit,
hire, and retain diverse faculty members.
SURVEY FINDINGS: PhD PROGRAM DIRECTORS
The results of the MPA survey tells us much
about the current and likely near-term future
demand for PhDs in public affairs and
administration, but nothing of the supply. To
ascertain the supply, we directed two surveys to
the producers of PhDs. We surveyed PhD
program directors from the 78 programs listed
by NASPAA and 20 political science programs
with a strong subfield in public administration.
Journal of Public Affairs Education 119
D. Rahm et al.

Table 3.
Likely National Annual Market Demand for PhD-level Faculty by NASPAA-listed MPA Programs

Position Description Annual Number of Hires

Full-time PhD 192

Part-time PhD 139

Total 331

Source. Authors’ data (N=123). Multiple responses allowed.

Table 4.
Shortage of Qualified PhD-level Candidates

Question Asked of MPA Directors Percentage Saying “Yes”

Have you ever hired a PhD in another discipline when you really wanted
32
to hire a PhD in public administration?

Have you ever tried to hire a person with a PhD in public administration
38
but have been unable to find one to fill the need?

Source. Authors’ data (N=123). Multiple responses allowed.

Table 5.
Needed Specializations for MPA Staffing

Specialization Area Responses Percentage

Nonprofit management 65 53

Budget and finance 60 49

Human resources 31 25

Statistics and research methods 30 24

Policy 29 24

General public management 26 21

Contract management and oversight 26 21

Organizational theory/change/behavior 17 14

Source. Authors’ data (N=123). Multiple responses allowed.

120 Journal of Public Affairs Education

 Exploring the Demand for PhDs in Public Affairs and Administration

Twenty-seven respondents from NASPAA list­ed
programs answered the question: On average,
about how many PhD graduates does your
program produce annually? These re­spondents
reported a total of 93 annual PhD graduates or
said on average that each program produces 3.4
PhD graduates per year. The eight respond­-
ents to the question from the politi­cal science
pro­grams with a strong subfield in pub­ lic
ad­ministration reported a total of 14 PhD
graduates per year or said on average that each
program produces 1.75 PhDs per year. If these
averages are representative of the population
and are extrapolated to all the programs (78
NASPAA-listed programs and 20 political
science programs with a strong subfield in public
administration), then on average approximate­ly
300 graduates per year are coming from all
programs (265 from NASPAA-listed pro­grams
and 35 from political science programs with a
strong subfield in public administration).
Tables 6 and 7 show these results.
Where do these graduates find employment?
The surveys asked PhD program directors to
provide the percentage of graduates who find
employment in various venues within three
years of graduation. Table 8 summarizes the
results for NASPAA-listed PhD programs, and
Table 9 summarizes the results for the political
science PhD programs with a strong subfield
in public administration. As these tables show,
only slightly more than half of the graduates
choose to take jobs in U.S. academia as

Table 6.
Current and Future Graduates from NASPAA-listed PhD Programs

NASPAA-listed PhD program

Question Asked of PhD Program Directors N Graduates

On average, about how many PhD graduates does your program produce annually? 93

Political Science PhD programs with a strong subfield in Public Administration

Question Asked of PhD Program Directors N Graduates

On average, about how many PhD graduates does your program produce annually? 14

Total 107

Source. Authors’ data (N = 27 and N = 8). Multiple responses allowed.

TABLE 7.
Likely Annual Future PhD Graduates Produced by NASPAA-Listed PhD Programs and
Political Science PhD Programs With a Strong Subfield in Public Administration

Program Projected Annual Number of Graduates

NASPAA-listed PhD program 265

Political Science PhD programs with a strong subfield

35
in Public Administration

Total 300

Source. Authors’ data.

Journal of Public Affairs Education 121

D. Rahm et al.

TABLE 8. professors (54% for NASPAA-listed PhD

Hiring Sectors for PhD Graduates from programs and 55% for political science PhD
NASPAA-Listed PhD Programs programs with a strong subfield in public
administration). Rather, graduates are finding
placements in large percentages with federal,
Placement Venue Percentage state, and local governments, the nonprofit
U.S. academia as professors 54 sector, in think tanks, and elsewhere.
U.S. academia but not as professors 7
U.S. federal government 8
To further probe areas of employment after
graduation, the survey asked PhD program
U.S. state government 7
directors this question: About what percentage
U.S. local government 4 of your PhD graduates return to a job previously
U.S. think tanks 4 or currently held? Table 10 summarizes these
U.S. nonprofits 4 results: 15% of PhD program graduates from
NASPAA-listed PhD programs and 25% of
U.S. private sector 3
graduates from political science PhD programs
Independent contractors 1 with a strong subfield in public administration
International NGOs <1 return to a job previously held. Twenty-one
Foreign universities 5 percent of PhD program graduates from
Foreign governments 2
NASPAA-listed PhD programs and 33% of
graduates from political science PhD programs
Foreign private sector <1
with a strong subfield in public administration
Source. Authors’ data (N = 41). May not total to 100% due to rounding. return to a job currently held. It also appears
that relatively high percentages of students in
PhD programs retired or left a job previously
held in search of a second career. PhD program
TABLE 9. directors from NASPAA-listed PhD programs
Hiring Sectors for PhD Graduates from indicate that 25% of their PhD graduates
Political Science PhD Programs With a retired from or left a job previously held and
Strong Subfield in Public Administration undertook the PhD to retrain for a second
career. Directors from political science PhD
programs with a strong subfield in public
Placement Venue Percentage administration say that 14% of their students
U.S. academia as professors 55 fit this classification.
U.S. academia but not as professors 14
U.S. federal government 5 The survey sought information regarding the
demographic makeup of the PhD graduates
U.S. state government 11
from the programs. Political science PhD
U.S. local government 9 pro­grams with a strong subfield in public
U.S. think tanks 2 ad­ministration and NASPAA-listed PhD pro­
U.S. nonprofits <1 grams are remarkably similar in gender char­
U.S. private sector <1
acteristics. They each report their student pop­
ulations to be 49% female. Ethnic and racial
Independent contractors 0
demographic groups of students vary. Table 11
International NGOs 0 summarizes the results: Both NASPAA-listed
Foreign universities 1 PhD programs and political science PhD pro­
Foreign governments 0 grams with a strong subfield in public admin­
istration are overwhelmingly dominated by
Foreign private sector 0
Caucasian students, with percentages of 63%
Source. Authors’ data (N = 41). May not total to 100% due to rounding. and 55% respectively. NASPAA-listed PhD
programs report that 8% of their graduates are

122 Journal of Public Affairs Education

 Exploring the Demand for PhDs in Public Affairs and Administration
Hispanic, 20% African or African American,
and 20% Asian. Political science PhD programs
with a strong subfield in public administration
programs report that 16% of their graduates
are Hispanic, 15% African or African American,
and 10% Asian.
Of the NASPAA-listed PhD programs, four PhD
program directors indicate they are a His­panic-
serving institution, and five of the direct­ors
from political science programs with a strong
subfield in public administration say they are.
Of the NASPAA-listed PhD programs, only
one director indicates it is a Historically Black
College or University; none of the directors
from political science programs with a strong
subfield in public administration say they are.
DISCUSSION
The survey data indicate a need for PhD-level
professors to staff the nations’ MPA programs
of about 331 hires annually (192 full-time and
139 part-time; see Table 3). Projections for
future PhD graduates from all NASPAA-listed
PhD programs and political science programs
with a strong subfield in public administration
total about 300 per year (see Table 7), producing
an annual employment gap of 31 if all graduates
go to academia. But our survey results show that
is not where these graduates are placing. Rather,
because only about half of the graduates go to
U.S. academia, the PhD programs are pro­
ducing far fewer candidates than needed for
those academic jobs. Table 12 summarizes these
projections and the likely true national em­
ployment gap: PhD programs are projected to
produce only 162 graduates to fill those need­ed
academic professoriate positions (143 from
NASPAA-listed PhD programs and 19 from
political science PhD programs with a strong
subfield in Public Administration).
Because many graduates seek careers outside of
academia and because many return to a job
currently or previously held, the number of
graduates available for the U.S. academic pro­
fessor pool is considerably lower than might be
expected in a traditional social science disci­
pline. If only full-time positions are considered,
a more realistic postsecondary teaching em­
ployment gap is 30 positions annually. If both
full- and part-time positions are considered,
then the postsecondary teaching employment
gap could be as high as 169 positions annually.
This conclusion is supported by Table 5, which
shows the high degree of difficulty MPA
directors express when trying to hire someone
to teach in their programs. More than a third
of program directors say they have tried to
hire a person with a PhD in public administra­
tion but have been unable to find one to fill
the need.
Another factor should be considered; diversity
is a major issue for MPA programs. NAS­PAA
promotes diversity within MPA program fac­
ulty, student bodies, and curricula. NAS­PAA’s
2013 Diversity Report shows that programs
continue to struggle to attract and retain diverse
student and faculty groups. In 2013, the report
notes, 49% of students were minority while
51% were white, and 39% were male while
61% were female. Faculty, however, do not
mirror those demographics. NASPAA reports
that in 2013, faculty was 77% white, 12%
African American, 7% Asian, 4% Hispanic,
and less than 1% American Indian. Gender
makeup showed that 66% of the faculty was
male and 34% was female (Primo, 2013). Our
survey data also reflect these trends (see Table
11); the overwhelming numbers of graduates
from PhD programs are Caucasian.
It also should be noted that this analysis in­
cludes only the hiring needs of MPA pro­grams
and not those of undergraduate public admin­
istration programs or the PhD programs them­
selves. Undergraduate programs, political science
PhD programs with strong subfields in public
administration, and NASPAA-listed PhD pro­
grams in public affairs and administration have
hiring needs in addition to MPA programs, and
those needs enlarge the demand for PhD
graduates from these programs. We did not
separately analyze the PhD programs them­
selves, based on the assumption that depart­
ments with PhD pro­grams would likely also
have MPA programs; however, for PhD pro­
grams in political science with a strong subfield
in public administration, that may not be the
case. Nor did we include bachelor’s programs
|in public administration, which are becoming
Journal of Public Affairs Education 123
D. Rahm et al.
increasingly common in the United States.
Further, it is important to note that we did not
include an analysis of doctor of public ad­
ministration (DPA) programs.
The overall need increases when consideration
is given to market demand by law schools. In
addition to teaching careers in political science
and public administration departments, grad­
uates with PhDs may also be preparing them­
selves for jobs as law professors. Brad Wendel,
professor of law at Cornell University, argues
that “there are some areas [of law] in which it is
becoming almost impossible to get a job at a
top national law school without a PhD in a
relevant discipline.” He further argues that “a
substantial majority of the newly minted law
professors who are judged to be doing
interesting work by senior scholars in their
fields have come to legal education with some
graduate training beyond the J.D.” and “in the
hot-shot segment of the entry-level market,…
there is a pronounced trend toward requiring
Ph.D.’s in closely related disciplines” (Wendel,
n.d.). The LLM Guide: Master of Laws Programs
Worldwide argues that degrees that lead to
publications, like the PhD, “are probably the
single-biggest factors for law school hiring
committees” (Wish, n.d.).
Table 10.
Percentage of PhD Graduates Returning to Current or Previous Employer or Retraining for a
Second Career
NASPAA-listed PhD Programs
Student Status
Return to job previously held
Return to job currently held
Retired from or left a job previously held and undertook PhD to retrain for a second career
Political Science PhD programs with a strong subfield in Public Administration
Student Status
Return to job previously held
Return to job currently held
Retired from or left a job previously held and undertook PhD to retrain for a second career
Source. Authors’ data (N = 41 and N = 10).
124 Journal of Public Affairs Education
As our survey results show, many graduates of
public administration programs find employ­
ment in venues other than the U.S. postsecond­
ary teaching market. Tables 8 and 9 showed
these results. PhD program directors report high
percentages of graduates going into the non-
U.S. postsecondary teaching market. We fur­
ther investigated these markets to get a sense of
the market demand.
In addition to academia, there is a demand in
areas of government employment for PhD-level
employees. The U.S. federal government offers
opportunities for PhDs looking for car­ eers
outside of academia. Columbia University
Center for Career Education argues,
Federal jobs are spread across more than
100 agencies and bureaus, each with its
own mission and each overseeing its own
hiring and recruitment. With over 1.7
million jobs, and over 400 occupational
specialties, the Federal Government of­
fers more choices than any other em­
ployer in the U.S. The skills and content
knowledge accumulated during a grad­
uate career in the humanities and social
sciences are useful to many governmental
bureaus. (Columbia University Center
for Career Education, n.d.)
Percentage
15
21
25
Percentage
25
33
14
 Exploring the Demand for PhDs in Public Affairs and Administration

For instance, the Department of Defense offers education must have provided the ap­pli­
a standard education substitution for those cant with the knowledge, skills, and ab­
holding PhDs and applying for GS-11 posi­ ilities to successfully perform the duties of
tions. The language reads: the position being filled. (ONET, n.d.)

PhD or equivalent doctorate degree or Further, ONET reports that in 2011, 50% of
three full years of progressively higher level administrative law judges, adjudicators, and
of graduate education leading to such a hear­ing officers had PhDs or professional de­
degree or LL.M., if related. Qualifying grees (ONET, n.d.).

Table 11.
Percentage of PhD Graduates in Demographic Groups

NASPAA-listed PhD Programs

Student Status Percentage
Hispanic 8
African or African American 20
Asian 20
Caucasian 63

Political Science PhD programs with a strong subfield in Public Administration

Student Status Percentage
Hispanic 16
African or African American 15
Asian 10
Caucasian 55
Note. Totals do not add to 100 due to multiple selection options.
Source. Authors’ data (N = 41 and N = 10).

Table 12.
PhD Program Graduates Likely Placement Venues, Annual

NASPAA-listed PhD Programs

Student Status N Graduates
Graduates seeking academic jobs as professors in MPA programs 143
Graduates seeking other jobs 122

Political Science PhD programs with a strong subfield in Public Administration

Student Status N Graduates
Graduates seeking academic jobs as professors in MPA programs 19
Graduates seeking other jobs 16
Source. Authors’ data (N = 41 and N = 10).

Journal of Public Affairs Education 125

D. Rahm et al.
PhDs often are desired in nonacademic posi­
tions in universities and in nonprofit organ­
izations. Columbia University Center for Car­
eer Education (n.d.) states:
Institutional research offices look for
PhDs to prepare and analyze data about
the university and to apply that analysis
to institutional problems and issues.
Public affairs offices, internal and ex­
ternal newsletters and magazines, and
the communications and foundations
arms of development offices are all likely
sources of opportunities for PhDs with
strong research and writing skills.
The Center also points out that nonprofit
or­­
ganizations (NPOs) are a likely place­-
ment opportunity.
NPOs cover a wide range of organizations,
including health, educational, religious,
arts, and charitable organizations, as well
as advocacy groups, professional soc­ie­
ties, and research institutes. Nonprofits
derive their operating revenues from
foundations, government grants, mem­
bership dues, and fees for services they
provide (thus their continuing need for
grant writing and fundraising). Many
PhD students seek out NPOs as their
first step outside academia, in part be­
cause the culture of nonprofits can be
particularly PhD friendly, and also
because these organizations often need
staff skilled in grant writing, research,
fundraising, program evaluation, pro­
gram development, and advising—all
skills with which many PhDs are well-
versed. (Columbia University Center for
Career Education, n.d.)
To further support the claim that PhDs are
hired in venues other than academia, between
September and November of 2013, we un­
dertook a search of job listings at national,
state, and local levels of government, non­-
profit, and for-profit organizations. Our aim
was to find job advertisements that specifically
sought, as either a required or preferred
126 Journal of Public Affairs Education
qualification, a PhD in public administration
or related discipline. For federal jobs we
examined a variety of sources: the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, Partnership in Public Service,
publicservicecareers.org, the top 30 think tanks
in the United States and, of course, job postings
on usajobs.gov. In essence, we were looking for
nonacademic opportunities for those with
a PhD.
The intellectual entrepreneurship consortium
at the University of Texas at Austin states that
35% of employees in the Congressional Budget
Office hold doctoral degrees (Johnson, 2013).
We also found 30 job descriptions from
usajobs.gov and some think tanks that require
a PhD or mention that a candidate with a
PhD could use that to substitute experience
requirements. In other words, a PhD would be
seen favorably when education is used as the
sole criterion for qualifying for a job. We also
came to the conclusion that specialist positions
may require and prefer Ph.Ds.
Our survey results also pointed to the place-
ment of about 5% of graduates in foreign uni­
versi­ties as professors. To further explore this
employment venue, between September and
November of 2013, we also undertook a search
of job listings looking for demand for graduates
from U.S. universities to teach in foreign
universities. This brief job search verified the
demand for PhDs in public affairs and ad­
ministration in some of the venues identified
by PhD program directors in our survey.
CONCLUSION
Our study shows that there is currently no
overproduction of PhDs in public affairs and
administration. To the contrary, a gap appears
to be present in the number of PhDs being
produced and the market demand for them.
MPA program directors reveal that they have
unmet hiring needs. Moreover, diversity re­
quirements do not match current production
of PhDs, so there is a need to produce more
PhDs from African American and Hispanic
demographics. The U.S. nonacademic market
demand for PhDs is strong, and the demand
by foreign university for graduates from Ameri­
 Exploring the Demand for PhDs in Public Affairs and Administration
can programs is sustained. Although history tells
us to be wary about overproduction of PhDs,
for now there seems to be more of a boom
market than a bust. However, PhD programs
should be careful to periodically monitor the
market demand for their graduates and to
adjust their entering classes according to likely
future demand.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Dianne Rahm, PhD, is a professor of Political
Science and Honorary Professor of International
Studies at Texas State University. Her research
interests include environmental policy and
energy policy as well as science and technology
policy. She has published over forty articles and
book chapters and seven books.
Vicki Brittain, JD, is a professor of Political
Science at Texas State University and former
department chair. She teaches primarily in the
M.A. in Legal Studies graduate program and
also teaches various undergraduate law-related
courses in the department. Her primary re­
search and teaching interests are in the areas of
civil litigation, employment law, and the use of
paralegals in the legal service delivery system.
Christopher Brown, JD, is an associate professor
at Texas State who is also a licensed attorney
and has worked both in the litigation and
academic contexts, on the environment and
environmental policy. One phase of his career
involved teaching environmental litigation at
Tulane Law School.
Charles Garofalo, PhD,is a professor of Political
Science at Texas State University. He has co­
128 Journal of Public Affairs Education
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authored Ethics in the Public Service: The Moral
Mind at Work; Common Ground, Common
Future: Moral Agency in Public Administration,
Professions, and Citizenship; and Practical Ethics
in Public Administration. His work has also
appeared in the American Review of Public
Administration, Administrative Theory & Praxis,
and the Journal of Management History.
Nandhini Rangarajan, PhD, is an associate pro­
fessor of Political Science at Texas State Uni­
versity. Her research interests are in creativity
and innovation, public management, human
resources, and organizational behavior. Her
art­icles have appeared in journals such as the
Review of Public Personnel Administration and
Public Productivity and Management Review.
She recently published a book (coauthored with
Dr. Patricia Shields) on research methods.
Patricia M. Shields, PhD, is a professor at Texas
State University. Her research interests include
civil-military relations, peacekeeping, pragma­
tism, and research methods. She is the editor in
chief of the journal Armed Forces & Society. She
has published two books on research methods
and publishes in journals such as Administration
& Society, Public Administration Review,
American Review of Public Administration, and
Armed Forces & Society.
Hyun Jung Yun, PhD, is an associate professor of
Political Science at Texas State University. She
earned two doctoral degrees in two different
disciplines, one in Political Science and the
other in Journalism and Communication from
the University of Florida. Her research is
dedicated to interdisciplinary approaches across
political communication, public opinion, geo­
politics, and applied methodology, focusing on
e-government, ethno-politics, social capital,
and policy attitudes.