The association between PhD holders’ experiences of professional support and work engagement and burnout

Most new PhD graduates are going to have non-academic careers, but research on their work experience has so far been limited, particularly regarding the quality of professional interactions and how they contribute to their occupational wellbeing. This paper reports on experiences of professional support among PhD holders working outside academia. The dynamics between professional support from colleagues, burnout symptoms and work engagement were explored. Survey data from 557 PhD holders from across the disciplines in Spain were collected in 2022 with a PhD employee survey. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results showed that emotional support and instrumental organizational support acted as buffers against all burnout symptoms and increased work engagement, whereas informational support did not provide such benefits. The study extends the existing body of knowledge on PhD holders working outside academia by 1) illustrating PhD graduates experiences of informational, emotional and instrumental support experiences in their work beyond academia 2) explaining the dynamics between professional support, burnout symptoms, and work engagement and 2) introducing a new instrument for studying professional support from the colleagues of PhD holders working outside academia.