Back to Data Tables
Download to excel

NCSES GSS 2012 GSS2012 42 SAS Output Newer information icon. Newer information is available.
Table 42. Postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field, citizenship, ethnicity, and race: 2012

  U.S. citizens and permanent residentsa  
  Not Hispanic or Latino  
Field Total Hispanic or
Latino		 American
Indian or
Alaska Native		 Asian Black or
African
American		 Native Hawaiian
or Other Pacific
Islander		 White More than
one race		 Unknown
ethnicity
and race		 Temporary
visa holders
All surveyed fields 62,851 1,351 85 5,367 1,104 99 17,280 186 4,392 32,987
   Science and engineering 43,841 862 51 3,330 615 63 11,835 112 3,346 23,627
      Science 36,738 750 48 2,736 544 61 10,510 96 2,731 19,262
         Agricultural sciences 1,290 31 2 121 21 4 426 4 106 575
         Biological sciences 20,086 413 23 1,664 315 36 5,304 49 1,390 10,892
            Anatomy 287 10 0 28 0 0 90 1 0 158
            Biochemistry 2,232 38 2 196 34 6 548 4 90 1,314
            Biology 2,268 51 3 168 43 13 696 10 146 1,138
            Biometry and epidemiology 536 15 1 36 20 2 144 2 66 250
            Biophysics 185 3 0 18 0 0 36 1 13 114
            Botany 596 19 0 69 5 0 143 0 110 250
            Cell biology 2,574 47 3 208 18 3 548 2 359 1,386
            Ecology 205 3 0 14 2 0 97 0 28 61
            Entomology and parasitology 266 8 0 17 3 0 108 5 8 117
            Genetics 1,407 27 1 137 14 1 379 2 105 741
            Microbiology, immunology, and virology 2,437 54 5 197 40 1 686 2 152 1,300
            Nutrition 224 6 0 24 6 3 65 0 31 89
            Pathology 1,582 26 3 150 26 1 351 5 64 956
            Pharmacology 1,383 31 2 136 33 2 401 4 34 740
            Physiology 1,399 30 2 103 27 2 421 0 53 761
            Zoology 87 2 0 10 1 0 53 0 9 12
            Biological sciences nec 2,418 43 1 153 43 2 538 11 122 1,505
         Communicationb 58 1 0 1 1 0 16 0 13 26
         Computer sciences 760 14 0 60 11 0 151 1 60 463
         Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 1,956 41 3 119 15 1 737 12 141 887
            Atmospheric sciences 209 0 0 11 3 0 60 1 13 121
            Geosciences 637 10 2 27 2 0 201 2 39 354
            Oceanography 446 9 1 28 2 0 205 8 13 180
            Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 664 22 0 53 8 1 271 1 76 232
         Family and consumer sciences and human sciencesb 58 2 1 3 3 0 34 0 0 15
         Mathematical sciences 902 18 0 36 6 1 288 5 102 446
            Mathematics and applied mathematics 782 16 0 29 4 1 272 5 79 376
            Statistics 120 2 0 7 2 0 16 0 23 70
         Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studiesb 742 19 1 52 17 3 291 5 39 315
         Neuroscienceb 1,525 22 1 96 14 1 438 2 163 788
         Physical sciences 7,430 116 12 483 78 8 1,883 13 516 4,321
            Astronomy 509 6 0 20 0 0 178 1 67 237
            Chemistry 4,016 67 10 291 59 2 905 8 178 2,496
            Physics 2,651 40 1 161 15 6 685 4 264 1,475
            Physical sciences nec 254 3 1 11 4 0 115 0 7 113
         Psychology 1,132 42 0 47 28 1 629 2 94 289
            Clinical psychology 104 2 0 4 5 0 80 1 1 11
            Psychology, general 613 19 0 26 9 0 309 1 66 183
            Psychology nec 415 21 0 17 14 1 240 0 27 95
         Social sciences 799 31 5 54 35 6 313 3 107 245
            Agricultural economics 60 0 0 6 1 0 24 0 11 18
            Anthropology (cultural and social) 96 5 1 6 3 0 52 0 8 21
            Economics (except agricultural) 50 2 0 6 1 0 6 0 5 30
            Geography 69 2 0 2 0 0 29 0 6 30
            History and philosophy of science 14 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 8
            Linguistics 31 0 0 2 3 0 11 0 5 10
            Political science 176 4 0 2 7 0 76 3 26 58
            Sociology 97 5 1 7 7 2 39 0 9 27
            Sociology and anthropology 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
            Social sciences nec 204 13 3 23 13 4 73 0 32 43
      Engineering 7,103 112 3 594 71 2 1,325 16 615 4,365
         Aerospace engineering 170 1 0 20 1 0 32 2 8 106
         Agricultural engineering 133 2 1 14 3 1 23 1 1 87
         Architectureb 6 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 3
         Biomedical engineering 1,161 20 0 134 21 0 279 0 77 630
         Chemical engineering 1,098 23 0 88 8 0 216 4 49 710
         Civil engineeringb 590 17 0 42 3 0 105 1 68 354
         Electrical engineering 1,152 14 0 86 13 0 173 0 164 702
         Engineering science 292 4 0 13 1 0 67 2 26 179
         Industrial engineering 127 2 0 8 2 0 36 0 16 63
         Mechanical engineering 985 10 0 67 6 0 162 2 91 647
         Metallurgical and materials engineering 854 13 2 75 6 0 126 2 66 564
         Mining engineering 5 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
         Nuclear engineering 120 1 0 7 2 0 23 1 15 71
         Petroleum engineering 53 1 0 4 0 0 2 1 0 45
         Engineering nec 357 2 0 36 5 1 79 0 33 201
   Health 19,010 489 34 2,037 489 36 5,445 74 1,046 9,360
      Clinical medicine 16,361 413 26 1,786 418 31 4,600 69 906 8,112
         Anesthesiology 436 6 0 59 4 0 109 0 15 243
         Cardiology 787 14 0 83 14 1 231 9 29 406
         Endocrinology 473 17 0 47 10 2 128 3 17 249
         Gastroenterology 319 5 0 39 6 1 83 1 3 181
         Hematology 367 7 1 42 7 0 102 0 6 202
         Neurologyb 952 20 2 85 18 0 253 1 46 527
         Obstetrics and gynecology 307 11 2 24 11 0 99 4 8 148
         Oncology and cancer research 1,923 55 1 219 36 3 436 1 39 1,133
         Ophthalmology 518 17 1 53 4 0 97 2 40 304
         Otorhinolaryngology 144 5 0 8 4 0 43 0 5 79
         Pediatrics 1,583 43 3 191 53 1 565 3 99 625
         Preventive medicine and community health 730 35 3 68 44 15 230 5 84 246
         Psychiatry 1,089 34 2 86 40 1 502 7 92 325
         Pulmonary disease 279 5 0 29 4 0 120 1 3 117
         Radiology 979 17 2 109 17 1 199 3 25 606
         Surgery 1,373 27 0 112 33 2 344 9 79 767
         Clinical medicine nec 4,102 95 9 532 113 4 1,059 20 316 1,954
      Other health 2,649 76 8 251 71 5 845 5 140 1,248
         Dental sciences 343 3 1 38 11 0 75 0 17 198
         Nursing 76 4 1 6 6 1 39 0 7 12
         Pharmaceutical sciences 982 23 4 104 30 3 244 4 31 539
         Speech pathology and audiology 59 2 0 5 0 0 36 1 3 12
         Veterinary sciences 534 18 0 40 5 0 250 0 50 171
         Other health nec 655 26 2 58 19 1 201 0 32 316

nec = not elsewhere classified.
a Ethnicity and race data are available only for U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
b In 2007, eligible fields were reclassified, newly eligible fields were added, and the survey was redesigned to improve coverage and coding of eligible units. “2007new” presents data as collected in 2007; “2007old” shows data as they would have been collected in prior years. The science fields Communication and Family and consumer sciences and human sciences were newly eligible in 2007; data for these two fields begin in 2007new. The science field Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies was also added to the code list in 2007; some data reported in this field were reported under other fields before 2007 and are included in those fields in 2007old. Neuroscience is reported as a separate field of science in 2007new; data were reported under health field Neurology in 2007old and previous years. Architecture is reported as a separate field of engineering in 2007new; data were reported under Civil engineering in 2007old and previous years. See appendix A in http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10307/ for more detail.
NOTES: “Field” refers to the field of the unit that reports postdocs to the GSS.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, NSF-NIH Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 2012.
Data from survey cycle Fall 2012, as of December 2013.