Table 29. Postdoctoral appointees in engineering in all institutions, by engineering field: 1979–2016

Year	Total	Aerospace engineering	Agricultural engineering	Architecture^a	Biomedical engineering	Chemical engineering	Civil engineering^a	Electrical engineering	Engineering science, mechanics, and physics	Industrial and manufacturing engineering	Mechanical engineering	Metallurgical and materials engineering	Mining engineering	Nuclear engineering	Petroleum engineering	Engineering nec
1979	1,067	32	29	na	28	192	128	142	74	8	143	209	5	20	6	51
1980	981	20	13	na	25	185	122	123	79	16	137	172	3	22	6	58
1981	1,040	14	12	na	32	173	103	191	87	13	130	194	16	26	2	47
1982	980	25	9	na	28	177	103	178	76	9	130	168	10	18	4	45
1983	1,108	32	5	na	27	199	131	180	71	13	182	204	19	15	1	29
1984	1,203	42	11	na	31	246	146	178	63	21	196	168	18	19	4	60
1985	1,356	51	16	na	46	274	122	183	90	18	207	245	19	31	6	48
1986	1,405	48	17	na	53	298	140	175	67	25	240	250	25	31	1	35
1987	1,446	43	29	na	44	312	174	177	41	26	216	283	26	20	10	45
1988	1,690	48	31	na	47	425	203	187	38	32	218	325	63	17	8	48
1989	1,928	38	39	na	69	477	182	193	74	32	304	323	90	36	9	62
1990	1,950	67	34	na	71	557	168	242	76	6	222	363	19	30	15	80
1991	2,262	77	37	na	59	576	186	346	117	27	326	392	11	29	19	60
1992	2,369	92	39	na	79	544	188	318	71	38	352	450	23	34	12	129
1993	2,446	116	44	na	80	529	181	388	78	63	358	403	19	40	13	134
1994	2,606	100	51	na	135	527	210	411	95	54	388	441	24	39	14	117
1995	2,648	101	51	na	129	576	201	381	101	30	410	490	19	28	9	122
1996	2,677	109	51	na	140	545	230	395	93	30	425	496	10	28	6	119
1997	2,971	125	62	na	154	636	248	508	115	28	440	465	11	33	21	125
1998	2,853	133	56	na	180	613	225	488	110	30	434	404	10	19	14	137
1999	3,196	128	62	na	242	671	299	548	122	27	476	421	6	30	19	145
2000	3,313	111	56	na	220	703	295	525	163	48	480	507	8	40	20	137
2001	3,152	128	58	na	262	574	268	436	162	21	501	479	14	77	17	155
2002	3,566	140	65	na	284	758	342	613	169	43	441	507	10	26	15	153
2003	3,810	141	85	na	388	686	300	646	180	45	543	539	12	49	17	179
2004	3,949	141	79	na	425	689	313	654	180	50	514	567	9	67	14	247
2005	4,166	153	89	na	477	702	384	689	168	51	562	578	8	41	13	251
2006	4,642	165	116	na	591	735	458	721	224	51	644	571	11	85	18	252
2007old^a	4,908	178	139	na	640	758	419	885	192	73	725	555	4	77	22	241
2007new^a	4,942	178	139	5	640	790	417	884	183	71	722	564	5	73	22	249
2008	5,462	154	135	11	710	880	465	987	214	115	784	605	5	85	28	284
2009	6,416	168	110	22	960	1,084	535	1,025	226	109	948	758	4	90	36	341
2010^b,c	6,969	212	119	10	1,023	1,077	571	1,095	236	151	1,021	841	4	107	44	458
2011^c	6,786	202	129	16	1,069	1,137	551	1,035	281	121	889	860	4	111	35	346
2012	7,103	170	133	6	1,161	1,098	590	1,152	292	127	985	854	5	120	53	357
2013	7,106	202	152	17	1,103	1,230	587	1,180	240	133	1,034	809	7	105	49	258
2014old^d	7,292	220	146	14	1,196	1,244	629	1,177	270	131	1,055	776	15	112	66	241
2014new^d	7,307	220	150	14	1,198	1,244	629	1,179	270	131	1,058	780	15	112	66	241
2015	7,656	217	221	17	1,201	1,283	670	1,160	251	142	1,161	911	15	107	73	227
2016	7,796	201	165	16	1,278	1,218	706	1,186	284	130	1,080	882	10	100	72	468

^b In 2010, the postdoctoral (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/.