Higher standards make recruitment difficult in many fields

Hoang Ngoc Vinh, former director of the Department of Professional Education under the Ministry of Education and Training, said the large number of unfilled PhD places stems from several factors, including increasingly stringent training requirements and changing demand for highly qualified workers among businesses and employers outside higher education.

According to Vinh, economics, management and business are among the fields attracting relatively large numbers of doctoral students, partly because programs are easier to organize and draw from a broader pool of potential candidates.

Doctoral education, meanwhile, increasingly demands substantial commitments of time and research capacity, alongside stricter quality requirements. Universities must have qualified academic staff and supervisors, properly organized programs and an adequate research environment.

"Current doctoral training regulations set fairly clear requirements regarding duration, procedures and the conditions that training institutions must meet. These requirements are necessary to ensure quality," Vinh said.

However, the requirements also mean that some prospective PhD candidates must think more carefully about the time commitment, their existing jobs and whether they can meet the demands of doctoral study.

Vinh said motivations for pursuing a doctorate have also changed alongside employers' demand for highly qualified workers.

Many businesses place greater emphasis on practical skills, experience and job performance than academic qualifications, while demand for PhD holders remains concentrated largely in universities and research institutions.

As a result, if career opportunities and compensation are not commensurate with the investment required, the incentive to pursue a doctorate declines.

Vinh said scientific publication requirements were previously a barrier for some doctoral candidates. Although the rules have become more flexible, programs must still ensure research quality and candidates' ability to conduct independent research.

Le Dong Phuong, former director of the Center for Higher Education Research at the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences, said tighter training requirements are a major reason why doctoral places remain unfilled, while many programs have been opened despite limited student demand and employment prospects.

According to Phuong, natural sciences and life sciences are among the fields facing the greatest recruitment difficulties.

"Requirements for doctoral candidates to have several publications discourage many people," Phuong said.

In the past, many universities, including smaller and provincial institutions, opened doctoral programs even when they offered only one or two places a year, sometimes leaving them with no candidates.

Limited career prospects and research resources

According to Phuong, another major bottleneck is the relatively narrow job market for PhD graduates.

Most doctorate holders work in the public sector, research institutes, universities or government agencies.

At the same time, public-sector staffing has become increasingly constrained.

"Staffing is being reduced, so why pursue a PhD?" Phuong said.

For graduates in natural sciences and life sciences, career opportunities are even more limited, largely concentrated in teaching and research.

Phuong said post-PhD incomes are not sufficiently attractive, particularly when research opportunities and funding remain limited.

Research costs are another barrier, especially in experimental disciplines where doctoral candidates may have to pay for experiments, equipment and other research activities.

Fields such as economics, management and educational management, by contrast, generally have more favorable research conditions and can therefore attract candidates more easily.

Do Van Dung, former rector of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, said the large number of unfilled doctoral places reflects a mismatch between the number of places universities register and the number of people who genuinely want and are qualified to pursue a doctorate.

According to Dung, demand for doctoral study still exists but remains relatively narrow, concentrated mainly in higher education and research.

Demand also varies significantly by discipline. Management, law and social sciences tend to recruit more easily, while basic sciences and engineering face greater difficulties.

Some institutions, such as Hanoi University of Science and Technology, fill only slightly more than 50% of their doctoral places on average, while some mechanical engineering programs at Nha Trang University have gone entire years without recruiting a single PhD candidate.

"A PhD currently does not sufficiently compensate for the opportunity cost," Dung said.

At autonomous universities, PhD holders can earn around VND35-45 million ($1,330-1,710) per month, according to Dung. While that is higher than the income of master's degree holders, it may still not compensate for three to four years of foregone earnings while studying, conducting research and publishing academic work.

For professionals working outside universities, particularly experienced engineers, earnings can be even higher.

Research conditions present another obstacle. A shortage of laboratories and qualified supervisors remains a reality, particularly in experimental fields.

Dung said Vietnam currently spends around 0.4-0.5% of GDP on research and development, while only about 36% of university lecturers hold doctoral degrees.

International publication standards are becoming increasingly demanding, he said, but research infrastructure and resources at many institutions have not kept pace.

"PhD quotas are still determined partly by the programs offered, institutional size and university rankings, while in reality each doctoral place should come with a supervisor, a research project, funding and the corresponding laboratory facilities," Dung said.

He argued that universities cannot simply offer a "study place" without providing the conditions necessary for doctoral candidates to conduct genuine research.

The decision by some high-performing candidates to pursue doctorates overseas also has an impact, but Dung said it explains only a small part of the problem.

Only a few hundred overseas scholarships are available each year, he noted, far too few to account for more than 3,000 unfilled doctoral places in Vietnam.

The large number of vacancies should therefore not be interpreted as evidence that society no longer needs doctoral education.

The key questions, experts say, are how many PhD places universities register, how many people genuinely want and are qualified to pursue them, and how effectively graduates can put their research capabilities to use afterward.

Le Huyen