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Table 42. Postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field, citizenship, ethnicity, and race: 2015

Field Total U.S. citizens and permanent residentsa Temporary visa holders
Hispanic or Latino Not Hispanic or Latino Unknown ethnicity and race
American Indian or Alaska Native Asian Black or African American Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander White More than one race
All surveyed fields 63,861 1,526 85 5,114 1,061 82 17,239 394 3,225 35,135
Science and engineering 45,295 1,025 56 3,305 641 32 12,079 268 2,187 25,702
Science 37,639 917 48 2,755 559 29 10,682 244 1,838 20,567
Agricultural sciences 1,525 42 1 122 19 0 460 10 107 764
Biological sciences 19,304 502 22 1,580 290 17 5,086 134 907 10,766
Anatomy 202 4 2 11 3 1 56 0 5 120
Biochemistry 1,874 42 2 180 24 0 424 13 82 1,107
Biology 2,131 66 3 148 33 3 723 24 85 1,046
Biometry and epidemiology 649 15 0 78 16 2 205 2 22 309
Biophysics 144 2 0 13 0 0 35 0 6 88
Botany and plant biology 640 21 1 76 6 4 170 5 36 321
Cell and molecular biology 2,380 66 5 183 26 0 560 4 144 1,392
Ecology 137 4 0 8 1 0 56 0 24 44
Entomology and parasitology 289 10 0 18 5 0 103 3 15 135
Genetics 1,410 19 0 104 11 2 328 19 119 808
Microbiology, immunology, and virology 2,206 46 1 169 52 0 605 28 131 1,174
Nutrition 250 8 0 21 6 0 76 0 8 131
Pathology 1,407 26 1 137 24 0 333 6 44 836
Pharmacology and toxicology 1,253 36 1 117 24 2 352 2 35 684
Physiology 1,350 46 2 129 28 3 343 7 36 756
Zoology 51 0 0 4 0 0 30 0 4 13
Biosciences nec 2,931 91 4 184 31 0 687 21 111 1,802
Communication 83 2 0 4 4 0 24 0 10 39
Computer sciences 888 11 2 60 12 1 192 4 37 569
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 2,129 57 3 130 16 3 831 21 91 977
Atmospheric sciences 180 5 0 3 3 0 47 5 9 108
Geosciences 744 11 1 34 5 1 244 8 38 402
Ocean sciences 457 21 2 22 3 0 200 1 27 181
Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 748 20 0 71 5 2 340 7 17 286
Family and consumer sciences and human sciences 103 8 0 10 5 0 51 4 3 22
Mathematics and statistics 1,011 16 3 42 10 0 268 4 50 618
Mathematics and applied mathematics 873 13 2 37 10 0 244 4 41 522
Statistics 138 3 1 5 0 0 24 0 9 96
Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies 972 26 0 83 19 0 361 3 33 447
Neurobiology and neuroscience 1,957 52 1 147 25 1 546 12 147 1,026
Physical sciences 7,358 107 7 447 72 7 1,787 29 297 4,605
Astronomy and astrophysics 418 6 0 13 4 3 151 1 23 217
Chemistry 3,840 67 6 269 52 2 836 15 137 2,456
Physics 2,779 32 0 150 15 2 690 11 129 1,750
Physical sciences nec 321 2 1 15 1 0 110 2 8 182
Psychology 1,130 43 2 56 35 0 584 9 62 339
Clinical psychology 93 4 0 4 7 0 65 2 0 11
Psychology, general 634 20 0 28 16 0 316 3 50 201
Psychology nec 403 19 2 24 12 0 203 4 12 127
Social sciences 1,179 51 7 74 52 0 492 14 94 395
Agricultural economics 61 2 0 1 4 0 20 1 1 32
Anthropology 174 9 3 4 2 0 101 4 9 42
Economics (except agricultural) 95 3 0 4 0 0 30 1 6 51
Geography 96 1 0 8 1 0 33 1 3 49
History and philosophy of science 12 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 6
Linguistics 47 0 0 4 1 0 16 0 6 20
Political science and government 313 11 1 18 20 0 125 1 26 111
Sociology 104 7 1 7 4 0 51 0 13 21
Sociology and anthropology 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Social sciences nec 275 18 2 28 20 0 110 6 28 63
Engineering 7,656 108 8 550 82 3 1,397 24 349 5,135
Aerospace engineering 217 4 1 14 2 0 42 0 7 147
Agricultural engineering 221 2 0 15 3 0 38 0 22 141
Architecture 17 2 0 0 0 0 6 0 2 7
Biomedical engineering 1,201 22 2 134 23 0 312 5 52 651
Chemical engineering 1,283 24 3 98 6 0 223 4 62 863
Civil engineering 670 8 0 53 8 2 158 3 37 401
Electrical engineering 1,160 13 0 65 5 1 162 2 39 873
Engineering science, mechanics, and physics 251 1 0 17 1 0 60 2 4 166
Industrial and manufacturing engineering 142 5 0 9 6 0 25 0 6 91
Mechanical engineering 1,161 11 2 78 9 0 201 4 53 803
Metallurgical and materials engineering 911 11 0 47 6 0 101 3 39 704
Mining engineering 15 1 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 11
Nuclear engineering 107 0 0 8 1 0 18 0 5 75
Petroleum engineering 73 0 0 5 0 0 7 0 0 61
Engineering nec 227 4 0 6 12 0 42 1 21 141
Health 18,566 501 29 1,809 420 50 5,160 126 1,038 9,433
Clinical medicine 15,850 434 25 1,586 347 47 4,377 116 898 8,020
Anesthesiology 433 8 1 28 8 0 95 2 39 252
Cardiovascular science 825 21 0 87 19 1 218 2 36 441
Endocrinology 414 15 3 37 8 0 106 6 8 231
Gastroenterology 299 5 0 34 7 0 67 3 5 178
Hematology 356 4 1 29 6 0 85 4 6 221
Neurology 1,035 26 3 90 11 0 293 5 43 564
Obstetrics and gynecology 287 6 0 24 12 0 89 2 10 144
Oncology and cancer research 1,788 32 2 183 25 2 377 4 95 1,068
Ophthalmology 568 9 2 52 2 0 102 3 16 382
Otorhinolaryngology 169 7 0 14 4 0 54 1 4 85
Pediatrics 1,309 44 1 121 31 3 462 10 54 583
Preventive medicine and community health 704 40 1 69 41 0 265 5 49 234
Psychiatry 1,084 49 3 85 27 0 555 20 60 285
Pulmonary disease 305 8 3 37 10 7 121 1 6 112
Radiology 1,012 20 0 77 11 1 215 1 73 614
Surgery 1,267 31 0 122 24 3 271 17 83 716
Clinical medicine nec 3,995 109 5 497 101 30 1,002 30 311 1,910
Other health 2,716 67 4 223 73 3 783 10 140 1,413
Communication disorders sciences 77 6 0 8 1 0 34 1 3 24
Dental sciences 307 5 0 31 13 0 56 0 20 182
Nursing science 75 5 1 4 5 2 40 0 5 13
Pharmaceutical sciences 999 18 1 72 32 0 232 6 34 604
Veterinary sciences 541 14 1 48 6 1 179 0 59 233
Other health nec 717 19 1 60 16 0 242 3 19 357
nec = not elsewhere classified.
a Ethnicity and race data are available only for U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
NOTE: "Field" refers to the field of the unit that reports postdocs to the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 2015.