- Pakistan is facing a deepening crisis of unemployment among its PhD scholars, and both the Federal and Provincial Governments, the Higher Education Commission (HEC), and universities themselves are largely responsible for this structural failure. Despite producing around 3,000 PhDs annually, the majority remain underemployed, exploited, or engaged in temporary positions with meager pay. This growing mismatch between the production of advanced degrees and meaningful employment reflects policy neglect, insufficient funding, and administrative inaction, creating frustration, wasted intellectual potential, and a real threat to the mental well-being of scholars. If Pakistan truly aspires to grow economically and compete globally, it cannot afford to ignore the nation’s most educated citizens, whose skills, knowledge, and creativity could drive innovation, research, and development.
Pakistan currently has 263 universities, comprising 154 public sector universities and 104 private sector universities. In addition, there are 131 sub-campuses, with 90 in the public sector and 41 in the private sector. Presently, 1,929,000 students are enrolled in universities across Pakistan, reflecting the growing demand for higher education and the country’s ambition to develop a skilled and educated workforce. However, this rapid expansion has created a structural imbalance: while the number of universities has increased, the growth in PhD-qualified faculty has not kept pace with student numbers, especially in newer universities and sub-campuses. This imbalance compromises the quality of education, research output, and the ability of Pakistan’s universities to meet global standards.
The journey of doctoral education in Pakistan has been remarkable but uneven. Before independence, from 1930 to 1946, 29 PhDs were awarded to scholars in undivided India from institutions that later became part of Pakistan. After independence in 1947, Punjab University awarded only 4 PhDs in that year. Progress was slow during the first decades of independence. By 2011, Pakistan had produced only 7,181 PhD scholars since 1947, reflecting the limited capacity of universities and scarce resources for advanced research. In the last decade, Pakistan has been producing around 3,000 PhDs annually, and by 2024, the total number of PhD holders in Pakistan has reached 29,827. Yet, despite this rapid increase, the majority of these scholars face minimal absorption into universities or research institutions, highlighting a growing employment crisis.
According to the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistani universities have 21,702 PhD faculty members out of a total 61,211 full-time teachers. This means almost 35% of university faculty have a PhD, over 39,000 teachers in universities are non-PhDs, and nearly 8,000 PhD holders are not part of the university teaching system, demonstrating severe underutilization of the country’s most educated individuals.
Shockingly, universities across Pakistan routinely engage the nation’s highest degree holders—PhD scholars, who have spent 8 to 12 years of relentless study, research, and intellectual labor—as visiting faculty on meager offers of just Rs. 30,000 to 40,000 per semester, which amounts to roughly Rs. 8,000 per month. To put this in perspective, this is far below the daily wage of a laborer in Pakistan, making it an outrageous insult to those who hold the ultimate academic qualification. This is not just underpayment—it is systematic humiliation. Scholars who have dedicated their lives to generating knowledge, advancing research, and building intellectual capital are forced to survive on salaries that undermine their dignity. Such treatment shatters dreams, crushes morale, and erodes the very foundation of higher education.
Instead of exploiting PhD holders as visiting faculty with token pay, they should be engaged at least on a contract basis with reasonable salaries, reflecting their expertise, contribution, and the years of effort invested in attaining the highest academic level. Moreover, universities must fill all vacant faculty positions and regularize contractual faculty appointments to ensure sustainability, continuity in teaching, and quality of research. Shockingly, despite these challenges, the Federal Government, Provincial Governments, and HEC remain largely inactive. To prevent the worsening of this crisis, the Federal Government must immediately announce an unemployment allowance of at least Rs. 50,000 per month for PhD degree holders, helping them survive economically, protect mental health, and prevent depression or other detrimental outcomes.
The persistent unemployment and exploitation of PhD scholars in Pakistan has also accelerated a severe brain drain. Thousands of highly qualified researchers and faculty are forced to migrate abroad in search of meaningful employment, competitive salaries, and professional recognition. This exodus not only represents a waste of national investment—Pakistan has spent decades and resources to train these scholars—but also weakens the country’s intellectual capital, limits research output, and reduces the capacity of universities to improve education standards. If urgent action is not taken to provide fair compensation, contractual security, research opportunities, and career pathways for PhD holders, Pakistan risks losing a generation of highly educated citizens, further compromising its economic growth, innovation potential, and global competitiveness.
The provincial breakdown highlights the disparity in qualified academic capacity across Pakistan, including smaller regions such as Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Punjab has 14,382 non-PhD faculty and 8,002 PhD faculty, Sindh has 10,725 non-PhD and 3,828 PhD faculty, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has 4,501 non-PhD and 3,827 PhD faculty, Balochistan has 1,808 non-PhD and 601 PhD faculty, AJK has 1,032 non-PhD and 415 PhD faculty, and Gilgit-Baltistan has 142 non-PhD and 108 PhD faculty. Overall, the total non-PhD faculty is 39,502 and PhD faculty is 21,702.
Comparing Pakistan with regional countries provides further context. Pakistan has 263 universities plus 131 sub-campuses, producing about 3,000 PhDs annually, with 35% faculty holding PhDs. India has 1,073 universities, produces 30000 to 40000 PhDs annually, with 50% of central university faculty and 25–30% of private university faculty holding PhDs, and offers competitive absorption and salaries. Bangladesh has about 50 universities, produces 2,000–3,000 PhDs annually, but mostly absorbs them into teaching positions. Sri Lanka has 15 universities producing 1,500–2,000 PhDs, mostly absorbed in teaching, with limited research, while Nepal has 11 universities, producing fewer than 500 PhDs annually, with only 10–20% faculty holding doctoral degrees. Pakistan produces more PhDs than Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal combined, but most remain underemployed or exploited.
To ensure PhD holders are meaningfully absorbed and to strengthen research output, Pakistan must significantly increase funding for higher education and research. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recommends countries allocate at least 4% of GDP for education and research, yet Pakistan currently spends only about 0.8%–1.5% of GDP, far below this benchmark. In comparison, India allocates around 4.1–4.6% of GDP, Bangladesh under 2%, Sri Lanka around 1.8%, and Nepal around 4.3% .
This severe underfunding restricts universities’ capacity to hire qualified faculty, provide adequate salaries, invest in research infrastructure, and support PhD programs, leaving the nation’s most educated citizens underutilized and demotivated. Unless Pakistan urgently increases its investment in higher education to at least 4% of GDP, the PhD unemployment crisis will worsen, research output will remain low, and the country will fall further behind regional peers in scientific innovation, economic growth, and global competitiveness.
The challenges Pakistan faces include oversupply of PhDs in some fields, declining university funding, weak research and innovation ecosystems, poor alignment between PhD programs and national needs, and quality concerns in supervision, research infrastructure, and international recognition. The psychological and economic toll is severe: PhDs face unemployment, work in unrelated fields, accept low-paid visiting positions, or migrate abroad, leading to frustration, depression, and wasted national investment. Paying top degree holders far below minimum wages—even below daily wage workers—undermines their dignity and the credibility of higher education institutions. This crisis is creating a generation of young scholars who feel abandoned, undervalued, and hopeless, which is not only tragic for individuals but catastrophic for the nation’s intellectual future.
To address this crisis, the Federal Government must urgently enhance the annual HEC budget from Rs. 70 billion to the required Rs. 170 billion, regulate PhD program approvals based on national absorption capacity, strengthen research ecosystems beyond academia, link PhD programs to national development needs, improve PhD quality through supervision and evaluation, fill all vacant faculty positions, regularize contractual faculty for sustainability, and provide a minimum unemployment allowance of Rs. 50,000 per month to PhD holders to protect them from economic stress and mental health risks.
From 29 PhDs before independence (1930–1946) to 4 PhDs in 1947, 7,181 by 2011, and 29,827 by 2024, Pakistan has made remarkable progress. However, despite producing around 3,000 PhDs annually, most remain underemployed, poorly paid, or engaged as visiting faculty, which is humiliating and counterproductive. Immediate policy reforms are critical to ensure that PhD holders are treated with respect, given meaningful responsibility, and allowed to contribute fully to nation-building. Ignoring this human capital not only wastes individual talent but jeopardizes Pakistan’s economic growth and its aspiration to build a stronger, knowledge-driven nation.
Warning: If the Federal Government, Provincial Governments, HEC, and universities continue to ignore the plight of Pakistan’s PhD scholars, failing to provide fair salaries, regularize contractual faculty, strengthen research funding, and create meaningful opportunities, the country risks losing an entire generation of its brightest minds. This will not only lead to mass brain drain, shattered dreams, and personal despair, but will also cripple Pakistan’s research capacity, innovation potential, and economic growth. This is not the era to live in dreams or make empty promises; it is the era to act practically and decisively to address the issue. The nation cannot afford to squander its intellectual capital; inaction today will leave Pakistan decades behind its regional peers, and its future as a knowledge-driven economy will be irreversibly compromised. Immediate, decisive, and uncompromising action is essential—the time to act is now, before the damage becomes permanent.
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