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Table 1-10b. Postdoctoral appointees in engineering detailed fields: 1979–2017

Year Total Aerospace, aeronautical, and astronautical engineering Agricultural engineering Architecturea,b Bioengineering and biomedical engineering Biological and biosystems engineering Chemical engineering Civil engineeringb Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering Engineering mechanics, physics, and science Industrial and manufacturing engineering Mechanical engineering Metallurgical and materials engineeringa Mining engineering Nanotechnologya Nuclear engineering Petroleum engineering Engineering nec
1979 1,067 32 29 na 28 na 192 128 142 74 8 143 209 5 NA 20 6 51
1980 981 20 13 na 25 na 185 122 123 79 16 137 172 3 NA 22 6 58
1981 1,040 14 12 na 32 na 173 103 191 87 13 130 194 16 NA 26 2 47
1982 980 25 9 na 28 na 177 103 178 76 9 130 168 10 NA 18 4 45
1983 1,108 32 5 na 27 na 199 131 180 71 13 182 204 19 NA 15 1 29
1984 1,203 42 11 na 31 na 246 146 178 63 21 196 168 18 NA 19 4 60
1985 1,356 51 16 na 46 na 274 122 183 90 18 207 245 19 NA 31 6 48
1986 1,405 48 17 na 53 na 298 140 175 67 25 240 250 25 NA 31 1 35
1987 1,446 43 29 na 44 na 312 174 177 41 26 216 283 26 NA 20 10 45
1988 1,690 48 31 na 47 na 425 203 187 38 32 218 325 63 NA 17 8 48
1989 1,928 38 39 na 69 na 477 182 193 74 32 304 323 90 NA 36 9 62
1990 1,950 67 34 na 71 na 557 168 242 76 6 222 363 19 NA 30 15 80
1991 2,262 77 37 na 59 na 576 186 346 117 27 326 392 11 NA 29 19 60
1992 2,369 92 39 na 79 na 544 188 318 71 38 352 450 23 NA 34 12 129
1993 2,446 116 44 na 80 na 529 181 388 78 63 358 403 19 NA 40 13 134
1994 2,606 100 51 na 135 na 527 210 411 95 54 388 441 24 NA 39 14 117
1995 2,648 101 51 na 129 na 576 201 381 101 30 410 490 19 NA 28 9 122
1996 2,677 109 51 na 140 na 545 230 395 93 30 425 496 10 NA 28 6 119
1997 2,971 125 62 na 154 na 636 248 508 115 28 440 465 11 NA 33 21 125
1998 2,853 133 56 na 180 na 613 225 488 110 30 434 404 10 NA 19 14 137
1999 3,196 128 62 na 242 na 671 299 548 122 27 476 421 6 NA 30 19 145
2000 3,313 111 56 na 220 na 703 295 525 163 48 480 507 8 NA 40 20 137
2001 3,152 128 58 na 262 na 574 268 436 162 21 501 479 14 NA 77 17 155
2002 3,566 140 65 na 284 na 758 342 613 169 43 441 507 10 NA 26 15 153
2003 3,810 141 85 na 388 na 686 300 646 180 45 543 539 12 NA 49 17 179
2004 3,949 141 79 na 425 na 689 313 654 180 50 514 567 9 NA 67 14 247
2005 4,166 153 89 na 477 na 702 384 689 168 51 562 578 8 NA 41 13 251
2006 4,642 165 116 na 591 na 735 458 721 224 51 644 571 11 NA 85 18 252
2007oldb 4,908 178 139 na 640 na 758 419 885 192 73 725 555 4 na 77 22 241
2007newb 4,942 178 139 5 640 na 790 417 884 183 71 722 564 5 na 73 22 249
2008 5,462 154 135 11 710 na 880 465 987 214 115 784 605 5 na 85 28 284
2009 6,416 168 110 22 960 na 1,084 535 1,025 226 109 948 758 4 na 90 36 341
2010c,d 6,969 212 119 10 1,023 na 1,077 571 1,095 236 151 1,021 841 4 na 107 44 458
2011d 6,786 202 129 16 1,069 na 1,137 551 1,035 281 121 889 860 4 na 111 35 346
2012 7,103 170 133 6 1,161 na 1,098 590 1,152 292 127 985 854 5 na 120 53 357
2013 7,106 202 152 17 1,103 na 1,230 587 1,180 240 133 1,034 809 7 na 105 49 258
2014olde 7,292 220 146 14 1,196 na 1,244 629 1,177 270 131 1,055 776 15 na 112 66 241
2014newe 7,307 220 150 14 1,198 na 1,244 629 1,179 270 131 1,058 780 15 na 112 66 241
2015 7,656 217 221 17 1,201 na 1,283 670 1,160 251 142 1,161 911 15 na 107 73 227
2016 7,796 201 165 16 1,278 na 1,218 706 1,186 284 130 1,080 882 10 na 100 72 468
2017olda 7,929 na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na
2017newa 7,839 196 111 ne 1,398 78 1,197 804 1,170 316 127 1,089 550 15 85 94 65 544
na = not applicable; data were not collected at this level of detail in the year shown. NA = not available; nanotechnology was not collected until 2007. ne = not eligible.
nec = not elsewhere classified.
a As part of 2017 GSS redesign, the GSS taxonomy was changed to align with the NCSES Taxonomy of Disciplines (TOD), thus increasing comparability with other NCSES surveys. As a result, some eligible fields were reclassified and a small number of fields became fully or partially ineligible. Comparisons to prior years should use the 2017old estimates and should be limited to broad areas of study—detailed field comparisons are not recommended. Materials sciences was reported as part of metallurgical and materials engineering from 2011–16; starting in 2017 materials sciences is reported as part of physical sciences, nanotechnology was reported as part of the science detailed field multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary studies from 2007–16.
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. 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 https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/nsf10307/ for more detail.
c In 2010, the postdoctoral appointee (postdoc) and nonfaculty researcher (NFR) section of the survey was expanded and significant effort was made to ensure that appropriate personnel were providing postdoc and NFR data. Thus, it is unclear how much of the increases in 2010 and later years over 2009 and prior years are from growth in postdocs and NFRs and how much are from improved data collection. More information on the changes to the data collection is available at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf13334/.
d Postdoc and NFR 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. For more information, see https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2016/nsf16314
NOTES: "Field" refers to the field of the unit that reports postdocs to the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering. Sum of the broad fields may not add to total because of rounding. Master's and doctoral students were not reported separately until 2017.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering.