Despite limited opportunities for tenured academic positions, the number of PhD graduates in Social Sciences has steadily risen in countries with developed research systems. The current literature predominantly portrays PhD graduates as victims, either of the higher education system or of their own optimism in pursuing an academic career. This paper takes an alternative stance by spotlighting the agency exhibited by PhD graduates in Social Sciences as they deftly navigate their career pathways amid the constrained academic job market. Specifically, we adopt an ecological perspective of agency to explore how PhD graduates in Social Sciences exercise their agency in navigating their career from the beginning of their PhD candidature until up to 5 years after graduation. We employ a narrative approach to delve into the employment journeys of twenty-three PhD graduates. Within this cohort, we select to report four participants from four Australian universities, each possessing distinct career trajectories. Our analysis highlights agency as the link between various personal and institutional factors that shape our participants’ career trajectories. Based on this finding, we offer recommendations for practice and policy changes that appreciate PhD graduates’ agency.

尽管获得终身学术职位的机会有限，但在研究体系发达的国家，社会科学博士毕业生的数量稳步上升。当前的文献主要将博士毕业生描绘成高等教育系统或他们追求学术生涯的乐观主义的受害者。本文采取了另一种立场，重点关注社会科学博士毕业生在有限的学术就业市场中巧妙地驾驭职业道路时所表现出的能动性。具体来说，我们采用代理的生态视角来探讨社会科学博士毕业生如何在从博士候选人开始到毕业后五年的职业生涯中运用代理。我们采用叙事的方式深入研究了二十三名博士毕业生的就业历程。在这个队列中，我们选择报告来自四所澳大利亚大学的四名参与者，每名参与者都有不同的职业轨迹。我们的分析强调代理是塑造参与者职业轨迹的各种个人和机构因素之间的联系。基于这一发现，我们提出了重视博士毕业生能动性的实践和政策变革建议。