NAVIGATING POST-PHD CAREER TRANSITIONS: SELF-LEADERSHIP AND INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT AMONG ALUMNI OF A MALAYSIAN PUBLIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITY

Abstract

Global higher education institutions have undergone significant changes as a result of the growth of PhD programs; however, the scarcity of academic employment has made post-PhD career transitions increasingly problematic. Although doctoral enrollment and research output have increased at Malaysia's public research universities, structured training for a variety of job paths has not received sufficient attention. In the first year following graduation, this study investigates how doctorate graduates handle early professional transitions. Fifteen doctoral graduates from five different fields, education, science, engineering, business and accounting, and languages and linguistics, were interviewed semi-structuredly using a qualitative interpretative methodology. Findings reveal three dominant transition patterns: planned academic continuity, strategic industry transition, and adaptive career redirection. Disciplinary opportunity structures significantly shaped perceived career options, with STEM and Business alumni demonstrating stronger industry integration compared to Education and Languages graduates. Despite structural constraints, alumni exercised proactive agency through goal structuring, skill repositioning, and psychological resilience. Self-leadership emerged as a central mechanism in managing uncertainty and professional identity reconstruction. While participants acknowledged strong research preparation, they reported limited structured institutional career support and reliance on supervisor-dependent guidance. The study integrates Career Construction Theory, Social Cognitive Career Theory, and Self-Leadership Theory to conceptualize career transition as an interaction between personal agency, disciplinary contexts, institutional preparation, and labor market conditions. The findings highlight the need to embed structured career development frameworks within doctoral programs. By providing contextual evidence from a Malaysian public research university, this study contributes to doctoral education reform discussions and offers cross-disciplinary insights into strengthening career readiness in contemporary higher education environments.