Perpetuating and advancing knowledge economies require an exchange of knowledge among various knowledge players, such as universities, organizations and the government. Universities are one of the major knowledge hubs, as they combine education, innovation, groundbreaking research, and collaborations with other sectors. Within universities, especially the doctoral education plays a crucial role in embodying this knowledge exchange. Firstly, during the doctoral education doctoral candidates expand the boundaries of current knowledge, making them owners of unique knowledge. Secondly, doctoral research projects collaborating with companies propel doctoral candidates in the front line of this collaboration [1], and transfer and exchange knowledge [2]. Thirdly, after the completion of their doctorate, the majority of the doctorate holders will be employed in a non-academic sector [3] in which there unique knowledge can be shared. However, most often this transition towards the non-academic labor market does not happen smoothly, raising the question on how this knowledge transfer and exchange can be enhanced. A crucial question in light of this knowledge transfer and exchange, is whether collaborations with different sectors during the doctoral education can influence the career paths after the completion of the doctorate. For example, will collaboration with the industry with R&D result in a higher chance of leaving academia after the completion of the doctorate? Using the PhD Career Survey, a survey filled out by 2982 doctorate holders who have obtained their doctorate in Flanders (Belgium), we will present evidence on how collaborations during the doctoral education might influence the career paths of doctorate holders. We focus on collaborations with the following sectors: industry with R&D, industry without R&D, other universities, higher education, government, non-profit institutions, research institutes and hospitals. We have distinguished four major career paths: (1) the “early switchers”: doctorate holders with a current non-academic job title who have not had an academic post after completing their doctorate; (2) the “late switchers”: doctorate holders with a current non-academic job title and who have had an academic post after completing their doctorate; (3) “postdocs”: doctorate holders in a current postdoctoral position at a university; (4) “professor” (Tenured Academic Personnel): doctorate holders who currently hold a position as professor at a university. Analyses will also control for other relevant variables, such as gender, science cluster and year in which the doctorate was obtained. The results serve as input to think about how we can reform doctoral education in terms of collaborations.

[1] Santos, P., Veloso, L., & Urze, P. (2020). Students matter: the role of doctoral students in university-industry collaborations. Higher Education Research & Development. [2] Borrell-Damian, L., Brown, T., Dearing, A., Font, F., Hagen, S., Methalfe, J., & Smith, J. (2010). Collaborative Doctoral Education: University-Industry Partnerships for Enhancing Knowledge Exchange. Higher Education Policy, 23, 493-514. [3] Gokhberg, L., Shmatko, N., & Auriol, L. (2016). The science and technology labor force: The value of doctorate holders and development of professional careers.