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Table 1-10c. Doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers 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 273 18 9 na 6 na 37 25 65 30 3 45 21 9 NA 2 1 2
1980 423 31 5 na 4 na 51 38 77 26 14 68 80 0 NA 22 0 7
1981 503 8 4 na 3 na 75 30 81 39 4 113 96 0 NA 21 0 29
1982 670 26 4 na 9 na 96 114 74 33 27 149 89 9 NA 19 0 21
1983 631 24 7 na 8 na 50 86 127 36 10 128 94 3 NA 29 4 25
1984 589 22 10 na 12 na 60 51 149 47 9 86 100 0 NA 19 6 18
1985 615 21 4 na 14 na 78 31 149 29 3 112 131 0 NA 26 5 12
1986 521 34 1 na 5 na 75 33 88 27 2 84 128 1 NA 28 1 14
1987 443 28 2 na 6 na 49 38 62 24 13 85 96 1 NA 24 2 13
1988 566 21 10 na 6 na 76 39 115 20 7 107 124 0 NA 27 2 12
1989 581 14 19 na 18 na 75 37 114 19 11 89 120 0 NA 38 1 26
1990 609 24 13 na 12 na 77 51 104 17 21 127 103 1 NA 36 5 18
1991 659 26 12 na 16 na 61 54 121 16 20 113 147 3 NA 34 13 23
1992 737 39 10 na 26 na 148 52 123 16 17 97 131 2 NA 37 12 27
1993 805 69 6 na 25 na 128 67 135 34 8 116 142 5 NA 27 16 27
1994 825 66 23 na 36 na 87 54 159 30 6 135 139 2 NA 36 17 35
1995 789 80 27 na 26 na 70 66 175 37 3 108 120 3 NA 32 11 31
1996 731 86 15 na 21 na 82 70 144 38 2 108 95 7 NA 29 10 24
1997 848 84 19 na 31 na 159 66 168 50 8 109 83 3 NA 28 4 36
1998 810 68 28 na 34 na 149 61 152 49 5 109 120 1 NA 4 6 24
1999 940 87 28 na 58 na 141 81 169 60 5 127 115 2 NA 11 10 46
2000 896 39 24 na 42 na 110 131 145 60 7 176 109 0 NA 13 10 30
2001 801 15 27 na 36 na 95 98 118 62 12 133 103 4 NA 4 2 92
2002 903 17 29 na 43 na 87 118 131 76 22 121 107 2 NA 47 14 89
2003 952 30 25 na 49 na 96 98 172 78 11 125 146 3 NA 15 4 100
2004 1,043 60 28 na 67 na 92 111 175 69 26 175 174 5 NA 11 9 41
2005 946 54 22 na 58 na 66 113 178 61 24 165 127 1 NA 3 23 51
2006 1,118 66 33 na 65 na 144 134 158 72 41 170 142 2 NA 3 24 64
2007oldb 1,298 29 29 na 91 na 131 141 304 81 32 199 149 3 na 4 24 81
2007newb 1,310 29 29 0 91 na 139 143 310 81 27 199 150 3 na 4 24 81
2008 1,419 41 57 5 89 na 173 161 283 78 67 193 124 10 na 26 15 97
2009 1,737 40 52 6 153 na 224 181 296 124 76 246 180 1 na 28 17 113
2010c,d 2,406 58 70 15 250 na 265 256 395 114 108 355 224 7 na 39 23 227
2011d 2,312 35 62 11 247 na 204 278 406 119 87 318 233 4 na 44 36 228
2012 2,497 49 65 11 295 na 211 298 405 170 70 389 245 10 na 30 40 209
2013 2,494 40 50 10 238 na 264 296 431 157 77 403 273 10 na 27 40 178
2014olde 2,744 43 55 5 322 na 276 313 459 192 90 437 279 8 na 34 63 168
2014newe 2,745 43 55 5 322 na 276 313 459 192 90 438 279 8 na 34 63 168
2015 2,929 67 70 6 289 na 264 364 492 184 150 425 295 20 na 26 56 221
2016 3,155 77 55 30 311 na 297 420 560 188 162 393 353 23 na 29 57 200
2017olda na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na
2017newa 3,274 102 52 ne 415 36 281 422 557 200 119 458 181 52 33 22 59 285
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 doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers 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.