Is a PhD useful outside the walls of a university?

For ages, this qualification has been touted as the gold standard for research practitioners.

PhD holders are not only expected to research on new ways of solving problems but also teach students in university.

But what options do they have when universities seem to be downsizing instead of employing?

Well, the real question should be whether PhD graduates can work outside universities.

Perhaps this old addage may be responsible for confining academics within the university walls:

IF YOU CAN, YOU DO. IF YOU CAN’T, YOU TEACH.

But is it really true?

If not, how can we prove it wrong?

Several opportunities in industry are waiting to smile on any PhD holder who’s worth his or her salt.

Below, I’ve highlighted a few.

OUTSOURCED R&D

The growth of the SME manufacturing sector has meant only one thing…there is an insatiable need for innovative products.

However, with their shoestring budgets, many MSMEs can’t afford an entire R&D department.

But this doesn’t mean that they stop Innovating.

So what recourse do they have?

To outsource R&D.

PhD holders who are experts in research and versed in specific areas can offer their services of course at a fee.

This could be done by setting up a company to offer R&D services to a specific industrial niche to meet customer needs.

But a PhD holder doesn’t need to stop at that.

INNOVATION AND PROTOTYPING

Armed with knowledge on innovation and problem solving, a PhD holder is able to package their knowhow into a market product.

Though it looks farfetched, tools such as ‘Design innovation’ are able to guide anyone to use their hard earned knowledge to innovate and prototype.

Talk about companies such as ‘Safi Organics’ which was formed through collaboration with researchers from MIT.

And there are many other stories out there.

Infact, this trajectory could just land us into new and fairly uncharted territory.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

In my view, social enterprises are businesses that have the potential to catalyze industrial growth in Africa.

This is because they are formed with the goal of boosting the company’s bottom line while at the same time improving the well-being of the surrounding communities.

Social enterprises not only make products.

They ensure that these products and their production processes benefit the community, environment and are financially sustainable.

Look at an SME like Takataka solutions.

This social enterprise is not just your normal garbage collection service.

They seek to add value to garbage by converting it to valuable compost which they sell to farmers.

A PhD holder with an inclination towards agriculture could pick up such an idea and improve on it.

He could explore different ways of improving on the nutritional value of the compost for better yields using research.

That way, he could start an entirely new enterprise and create wealth in the process.

This comes out of exploiting a gap that exists and using research as an ace to deliver to customers.

That way, he doesn’t reinvent the wheel but builds up on what already exists.

Last but not least, PhD holders can venture into a complex world of solving ‘wicked problems’ .

‘WICKED PROBLEMS’

Wicked problems are those that are not easy to solve (to put it simply).

These are the sort of problems which give rise to other problems if people attempt to solve them.

They therefore call for collaboration and a cyclic approach to problem solving as opposed to a linear approach where there is a beginning and an end.

And no other practitioners are prepared for this type of arena like PhD holders.

They are exposed to collaboration during research.

Also, they know that their research escapades are not an end but part of a continuous cycle of new findings.

Take for instance a wicked problem like fighting hunger.

Some would say that to increase food production, we must promote the use of mineral fertilizers and pesticides.

Yes… Their use may swell our silos but the safety of the food produced will be wanting.

So how will a PhD holder contribute to tackling this dilemma?

By finding ways of improving yields while maintaining the acceptable levels of food safety.

Some of these insights can only be revealed by empirical studies which are taught to PhD holders.

The only difference is not stopping with the results but converting them to a bottom line which is good farm yields.

IN CONCLUSION

Many opportunities exist for PhD holders to flourish.

But to do so, they must be willing to oscillate between their academic world and the real world where they will put their knowledge to test.

They must be willing to convert their knowhow into the bottom line.

They need to see research as a tool of wealth creation.

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