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Table 27. Postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering, and health in all institutions, by field: 1979–2016

Year All science, engineering, and health Science and engineering Health
Total Science Engineering Total Clinical medicinea Other health
1979 18,101 13,586 12,519 1,067 4,515 4,035 480
1980 18,399 14,023 13,042 981 4,376 3,899 477
1981 19,634 14,771 13,731 1,040 4,863 4,328 535
1982 19,363 14,678 13,698 980 4,685 4,058 627
1983 20,712 15,670 14,562 1,108 5,042 4,450 592
1984 21,535 16,182 14,979 1,203 5,353 4,713 640
1985 22,387 16,932 15,576 1,356 5,455 4,746 709
1986 23,721 17,917 16,512 1,405 5,804 5,094 710
1987 24,881 18,815 17,369 1,446 6,066 5,302 764
1988 26,123 19,714 18,024 1,690 6,409 5,552 857
1989 27,932 20,906 18,978 1,928 7,026 6,166 860
1990 29,565 21,803 19,853 1,950 7,762 6,945 817
1991 30,865 22,857 20,595 2,262 8,008 7,168 840
1992 32,747 23,883 21,514 2,369 8,864 7,977 887
1993 34,322 24,665 22,219 2,446 9,657 8,625 1,032
1994 36,377 25,787 23,181 2,606 10,590 9,411 1,179
1995 35,926 26,160 23,512 2,648 9,766 8,594 1,172
1996 37,107 26,569 23,892 2,677 10,538 9,362 1,176
1997 38,481 27,264 24,293 2,971 11,217 9,990 1,227
1998 40,086 27,876 25,023 2,853 12,210 10,957 1,253
1999 40,800 28,980 25,784 3,196 11,820 10,623 1,197
2000 43,115 30,224 26,911 3,313 12,891 11,555 1,336
2001 43,311 30,196 27,044 3,152 13,115 11,663 1,452
2002 45,034 31,937 28,371 3,566 13,097 11,582 1,515
2003 46,728 33,666 29,856 3,810 13,062 11,445 1,617
2004 47,240 34,065 30,116 3,949 13,175 11,477 1,698
2005 48,555 34,456 30,290 4,166 14,099 12,323 1,776
2006 49,343 34,887 30,245 4,642 14,456 12,584 1,872
2007oldb 50,712 35,894 30,986 4,908 14,818 12,805 2,013
2007newb 50,840 36,223 31,281 4,942 14,617 12,472 2,145
2008 54,164 38,203 32,741 5,462 15,961 13,837 2,124
2009 57,805 40,804 34,388 6,416 17,001 14,601 2,400
2010c,d 63,439 44,320 37,351 6,969 19,119 16,515 2,604
2011d 62,639 44,121 37,335 6,786 18,518 16,165 2,353
2012 62,851 43,841 36,738 7,103 19,010 16,361 2,649
2013 61,942 43,395 36,289 7,106 18,547 15,831 2,716
2014olde 62,379 43,476 36,184 7,292 18,903 16,164 2,739
2014newe 63,593 44,623 37,316 7,307 18,970 16,216 2,754
2015 63,861 45,295 37,639 7,656 18,566 15,850 2,716
2016 64,712 45,737 37,941 7,796 18,975 16,165 2,810
a Clinical medicine includes postdoctoral (postdoc) appointees in anesthesiology; cardiology; endocrinology; gastroenterology; hematology; neurology; obstetrics and gynecology; oncology and cancer research; ophthalmology; otorhinolaryngology; pediatrics; preventive medicine and community health; psychiatry; pulmonary disease; radiology; surgery; and clinical medicine, not elsewhere classified.
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. See appendix A in https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10307/ for more detail.
c 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 postdoc appointments and how much are from improved data collection. More information on the changes to the postdoc data collection is available at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf13334/.
d Postdoc data from 2010 and 2011 were reimputed following the 2012 data collection; these data supersede those contained in previous reports.
e In 2014, the survey frame was updated following a comprehensive frame evaluation study. The study identified potentially eligible but not previously surveyed academic institutions in the United States with master's- or doctorate-granting programs in science, engineering, or health. A total of 151 newly eligible institutions were added, and two private for-profit institutions offering mostly practitioner-based graduate degrees were determined to be ineligible.
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.