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NCSES GSS 2012 GSS2012 47 SAS Output Newer information icon. Newer information is available.
Table 47. Postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by detailed field, citizenship, and doctoral degree type: 2012

  U.S. citizens and permanent residents Temporary visa holders
Field Total Doctoral
degreea
Professional
degreea
Dual degreea Doctoral degree
type unknowna
Doctoral
degreea
Professional
degreea
Dual degreea Doctoral degree
type unknowna
All surveyed fields 62,851 19,087 2,800 559 7,418 24,339 2,147 725 5,776
   Science and engineering 43,841 13,896 418 139 5,761 18,428 525 232 4,442
      Science 36,738 12,268 389 130 4,689 15,157 495 221 3,389
         Agricultural sciences 1,290 448 18 1 248 469 8 1 97
         Biological sciences 20,086 6,652 297 117 2,128 8,400 433 202 1,857
            Anatomy 287 84 6 4 35 99 6 7 46
            Biochemistry 2,232 668 9 10 231 998 17 16 283
            Biology 2,268 912 2 2 214 974 10 3 151
            Biometry and epidemiology 536 202 12 3 69 174 10 2 64
            Biophysics 185 66 1 0 4 108 0 0 6
            Botany 596 199 7 0 140 214 1 0 35
            Cell biology 2,574 686 15 10 477 1,066 31 30 259
            Ecology 205 116 2 0 26 38 0 0 23
            Entomology and parasitology 266 120 1 0 28 100 0 0 17
            Genetics 1,407 480 20 10 156 511 25 21 184
            Microbiology, immunology, and virology 2,437 847 53 21 216 957 48 13 282
            Nutrition 224 80 8 0 47 49 4 0 36
            Pathology 1,582 452 68 24 82 703 87 43 123
            Pharmacology 1,383 541 28 9 65 652 25 26 37
            Physiology 1,399 483 22 7 126 590 33 17 121
            Zoology 87 47 0 3 25 6 0 1 5
            Biological sciences nec 2,418 669 43 14 187 1,161 136 23 185
         Communication b 58 21 0 0 11 16 0 0 10
         Computer sciences 760 201 4 0 92 384 1 0 78
         Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences 1,956 666 22 0 381 754 6 0 127
            Atmospheric sciences 209 59 1 0 28 109 1 0 11
            Geosciences 637 212 1 0 70 289 0 0 65
            Oceanography 446 238 16 0 12 173 3 0 4
            Earth, atmospheric, and ocean sciences nec 664 157 4 0 271 183 2 0 47
         Family and consumer sciences and human sciences b 58 34 1 0 8 11 0 0 4
         Mathematical sciences 902 343 9 0 104 387 2 0 57
            Mathematics and applied mathematics 782 312 9 0 85 326 2 0 48
            Statistics 120 31 0 0 19 61 0 0 9
         Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies b 742 225 3 3 196 215 2 1 97
         Neuroscience b 1,525 506 10 3 218 572 12 12 192
         Physical sciences 7,430 2,099 7 2 1,001 3,511 13 0 797
            Astronomy 509 151 0 0 121 203 0 0 34
            Chemistry 4,016 1,067 3 2 448 1,931 7 0 558
            Physics 2,651 850 4 0 322 1,329 6 0 140
            Physical sciences nec 254 31 0 0 110 48 0 0 65
         Psychology 1,132 675 11 2 155 249 7 3 30
            Clinical psychology 104 82 0 0 11 9 1 1 0
            Psychology, general 613 323 5 2 100 157 2 1 23
            Psychology nec 415 270 6 0 44 83 4 1 7
         Social sciences 799 398 7 2 147 189 11 2 43
            Agricultural economics 60 23 2 0 17 17 0 0 1
            Anthropology (cultural and social) 96 57 2 0 16 18 0 0 3
            Economics (except agricultural) 50 15 0 0 5 22 0 0 8
            Geography 69 28 0 0 11 23 5 0 2
            History and philosophy of science 14 2 0 0 4 5 1 0 2
            Linguistics 31 20 0 0 1 6 0 0 4
            Political science 176 86 2 2 28 45 2 1 10
            Sociology 97 60 0 0 10 17 2 1 7
            Sociology and anthropology 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
            Social sciences nec 204 105 1 0 55 36 1 0 6
      Engineering 7,103 1,628 29 9 1,072 3,271 30 11 1,053
         Aerospace engineering 170 40 0 0 24 75 1 0 30
         Agricultural engineering 133 30 4 0 12 78 0 2 7
         Architecture b 6 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
         Biomedical engineering 1,161 366 8 5 152 413 11 2 204
         Chemical engineering 1,098 231 5 1 151 503 0 3 204
         Civil engineering b 590 122 1 0 113 285 0 0 69
         Electrical engineering 1,152 242 1 1 206 551 0 0 151
         Engineering science 292 85 0 0 28 163 0 0 16
         Industrial engineering 127 37 0 0 27 42 0 0 21
         Mechanical engineering 985 192 8 2 136 512 16 4 115
         Metallurgical and materials engineering 854 169 1 0 120 430 0 0 134
         Mining engineering 5 2 0 0 0 3 0 0 0
         Nuclear engineering 120 33 0 0 16 45 0 0 26
         Petroleum engineering 53 4 0 0 4 43 0 0 2
         Engineering nec 357 72 1 0 83 127 2 0 72
   Health 19,010 5,191 2,382 420 1,657 5,911 1,622 493 1,334
      Clinical medicine 16,361 4,517 2,125 397 1,210 5,120 1,502 464 1,026
         Anesthesiology 436 120 50 4 19 140 64 14 25
         Cardiology 787 156 123 24 78 203 94 34 75
         Endocrinology 473 133 62 12 17 183 41 20 5
         Gastroenterology 319 65 61 4 8 96 54 14 17
         Hematology 367 90 41 16 18 164 27 2 9
         Neurology b 952 253 70 18 84 339 77 20 91
         Obstetrics and gynecology 307 48 83 2 26 92 28 5 23
         Oncology and cancer research 1,923 544 103 81 62 874 101 55 103
         Ophthalmology 518 111 50 11 42 185 76 22 21
         Otorhinolaryngology 144 35 13 6 11 44 20 8 7
         Pediatrics 1,583 503 303 31 121 462 64 39 60
         Preventive medicine and community health 730 300 56 5 123 132 12 2 100
         Psychiatry 1,089 572 90 13 89 223 55 7 40
         Pulmonary disease 279 65 82 9 6 51 32 8 26
         Radiology 979 221 81 6 65 419 95 17 75
         Surgery 1,373 227 259 16 104 355 252 48 112
         Clinical medicine nec 4,102 1,074 598 139 337 1,158 410 149 237
      Other health 2,649 674 257 23 447 791 120 29 308
         Dental sciences 343 71 44 7 23 106 43 11 38
         Nursing 76 45 0 5 14 7 0 1 4
         Pharmaceutical sciences 982 256 53 0 134 394 16 2 127
         Speech pathology and audiology 59 24 1 0 22 6 0 0 6
         Veterinary sciences 534 96 125 5 137 104 26 8 33
         Other health nec 655 182 34 6 117 174 35 7 100

nec = not elsewhere classified.
a Doctoral degree = PhD, ScD, DEng, etc.; professional degree = MD, DVM, DO, DDS, etc.; dual degree = both professional and doctoral degrees (MD-PhD, DVM-PhD, etc.).
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: In 2010, the postdoc section of the survey was expanded, and significant effort was made to ensure that appropriate personnel were providing postdoc data (see appendix A for more information). Thus, it is unclear how much of the increases in 2010 and later years over 2009 and prior years are from growth in postdoctoral appointments and how much are from improved data collection. More information on the changes to the postdoc data collection is available at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf13334/. Postdoc data from 2010 and 2011 were reimputed following the 2012 data collection; these data supersede those contained in previous reports. For graduate students, “field” refers to the field of the reporting unit in which the student is enrolled. For postdocs, “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.