The marketization of knowledge has led to an oversupply of PhD graduates,
as it does not follow the economics of supply and demand. While industries continue to
complain that PhD graduates lack appropriate knowledge and skills, universities exploit
their PhD students as cheap labor for teaching and research activities. PhD students
have become part of the flexible workforce to meet the universities’ temporary
workforce needs on a part-time and casual basis. As a result, universities tend to take
on an excessive number of PhD students.
Keywords: Flexible Workforce, PhD Factory, Scientific Century, Transferrable
Skills.
