Contrary to received wisdom graduates from prestigious institutions aren’t more productive

An image showing bikes outside Oxford University

Source: © Shutterstock.com

Study finds that it is the working environment of an institution that predicts a young researcher’s output

A long held belief in academia that scientific skill correlates with the prestige of a researcher’s doctoral institution does not stand up to scrutiny. When it comes to factors driving the productivity of early career faculty members, data shows that the characteristics of their current working environment and not the prestige of their doctoral training are more important.