In 2024-2025, there were 3,183 graduate learners in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine; just shy of 50% of these are enrolled in a PhD program. Upon finishing their degrees, these graduates will join fellow alumni that make up 9% of the Canadian population — a percentage that is trending to increase every year, according to the most recent 2021 Statistics Canada survey. From our Department of Immunology, a department sized around 130 students, between March-September of this year, 16 students were admitted to the Master’s degree and 7 students were admitted to PhD degree.
Yet, the majority of these graduates don’t end up pursuing careers as university professors and lecturers. According to a Statistics Canada survey conducted in 2016, approximately 26% of male graduates and 23% of female graduates from physical and life sciences end up pursing traditional academia positions (however the percentage increases approximately 2-fold in both categories if they graduated from Education, the highest discipline producing academics). So why pursue further graduate education then? One motivation could be increased salary. According to the most recent Statistics Canada data collected from 2020, the median average salary of someone with a Master’s degree is $80,000 whereas with a PhD, it is $89,000. This is compared to someone with a Bachelor’s degree, with a median salary of $64,000. Keep in mind that this number in Canadian dollars is a rough estimate and isn’t adjusted for present inflation, nor discriminates across genders, years of work experience, or line of work.
But salary is not the only indicator of graduate alumni success. Arguably, pursuing graduate studies should be a challenging, transformative experience that will leave you with strong critical thinking, analytical, and communication skills – not to mention a whole ton of grit you never thought you had.
Philosophically speaking, obtaining a graduate degree in research requires a complete reshaping – or dare I say – dismantling – of what we have been learning in school for 16+ years. For years, we have been building a foundation of knowledge that is non-interactive in the act of learning. Sitting comfortably with rote memorization and application of theories in limited contexts (for convenient exam testing purposes) suggests that all knowledge has a binary “correct” versus “wrong” framework. When we do research, we cross into uncharted territory. We have to sit actively wrestle with unknowns and “maybes”, sometimes for weeks or years on end. While this mentality might be frustrating, one benefit of graduate studies is that we develop a useful tool set of imagination, critical thinking, and perseverance.
A second tool we acquire during graduate studies is analytical thinking. Data analysis is a critical, versatile, highly sought after skill in multiple career fields. Through our training with testing hypotheses, we need to be able to discern the truth from the noise via proper design of experimental testing conditions. Evaluating statistical significance enables us to make decisions and predict with more confidence – key skills in areas of risk management.
A third benefit of pursuing graduate school is knowing how to tell a story upon interpreting experimental findings. There are multiple examples of work where data needs to be collected, organized, and presented; however, the work is more meaningful when it connects what is already known with what remains unknown. Being able to simplify the research project’s main question and findings is a challenging feat, particularly in lay terms. Graduate students are encouraged to apply for their own scholarship funding, present their work in poster and oral talks at conferences, and write their own abstracts in addition to submitting their peer-reviewed manuscripts. Through these practices, they learn how to condense several months to years of work into an impactful “elevator pitch”. These communication skills are vital not only to help others understand the broader impact of their work to society but also to continuously remind oneself of the significance of one’s work. Students in the Department of Immunology also get to practice their scientific communication skills to lay audience members through student-run initiatives such as IMMspire, an interactive workshop teaching immunological skills and knowledge to youth, and IMMpress. Being able to communicate clearly and precisely is significant and translatable to many fields ranging from medicine, law, business, and news reporting.
A fourth benefit of graduate school is developing our network. Many graduate students, at least once during their degree, are given an opportunity to attend local and/or international conferences. These opportunities improve on skills related to presenting research findings to people who may be unfamiliar with your research field. Throughout our graduate degree, we begin to build this confidence by discussing with others in our field and gives us the ability to bounce ideas off each other. Another subtler aspect of networking is through the accumulation of knowledge in one’s particular field, we familiarize ourselves with labs doing similar work. Potentially, these labs could become future collaborators. Opportunities such as these in graduate school don’t come often and should be seized at the earliest chance. Even if one doesn’t plan on continuing with academia in the future, there are plenty of opportunities to develop networks with fellow graduate alumni in other careers and industries.
In summary, pursuing graduate studies enables us to develop an arsenal of translatable skillsets for many careers. In medieval times, the Master’s degree was once reserved for the pursuit of specific, advanced subject matter including arithmetic, astronomy, music, and geometry, while the PhD covered theology, medicine, and law. Hundreds of years later, the range of opportunities for professional development has dramatically expanded. In our own Department of Immunology, the former 2-year thesis-based Fundamental Master’s program was replaced in 2020 with the 1-2 year Applied Immunology program, that offers an attractive 4-month internship experience. The alumni of this program have now embarked on a wide range of careers including but not limited to medical writing and consulting. For PhD graduates, one post-graduation track is additional postdoctoral training to provide opportunities for more experience, leading to independent projects and networking opportunities, however PhD graduates may also consider other lines of work including industry associate scientist roles, medical liaison positions, consulting, teaching, among others. Regardless of the path(s) you choose, when you cross that stage at Convocation Hall, take the time to savor that well-deserving moment and pat yourself on the back. You’ve finished the journey, ascended the peak of the mountain, and that should be, in and of itself, fulfilling.
References
- “Vitals.” Vitals | Temerty Faculty of Medicine. Accessed November 13, 2025.
https://temertymedicine.utoronto.ca/vitals#people. - Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. “Canada Leads the G7 for the Most Educated
Workforce, Thanks to Immigrants, Young Adults and a Strong College Sector, but Is
Experiencing Significant Losses in Apprenticeship Certificate Holders in Key Trades.”
The Daily – , November 30, 2022. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-
quotidien/221130/dq221130a-eng.htm. - Department of Immunology Newsletter , October 2025.
https://immunology.utoronto.ca/sites/default/files/inline-
files/October%202025%20Final.pdf. - Bonikowska A, Frank K, Frenette M. Occupational profile and work tasks of Canadian
PhDs: gender and field of study differences. - Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. Estimated gross annual earnings of
postsecondary graduates working full time at interview, by province of study, level of
study and gender, March 22, 2024. - https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710003401.
- N, Keith. What is a master’s degree and why is it a game changer? Accessed November
13, 2025. https://www.crimsoneducation.org/us/blog/what-is-a-master-degree.
Zi Yan Chen
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