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Table 4-13b. Physical sciences postdoctoral appointee and doctorate-holding nonfaculty researcher demographics and funding: 2017

Characteristic Postdoctoral appointees Doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers
Number Percent Number Percent
Institutions 228 32.4 164 23.3
Schools 234 28.7 167 20.5
Units 559 3.0 374 2.0
All individuals 7,211 100.0 2,871 100.0
Male 5,574 77.3 2,290 79.8
Female 1,637 22.7 581 20.2
U.S. citizens and permanent residentsa 2,778 38.5 na na
Hispanic or Latino 105 1.5 na na
Not Hispanic or Latino
American Indian or Alaska Native 6 0.1 na na
Asian 498 6.9 na na
Black or African American 75 1.0 na na
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 5 0.1 na na
White 1,703 23.6 na na
More than one race 47 0.7 na na
Unknown ethnicity and race 339 4.7 na na
Temporary visa holders 4,433 61.5 na na
Primary source of support
Federal 3,856 53.5 na na
Nonfederalb 2,945 40.8 na na
Personal resources 62 0.9 na na
Unknown or not stated 348 4.8 na na
Primary mechanism of support
Fellowships 604 8.4 na na
Research grants 5,196 72.1 na na
Traineeships 145 2.0 na na
Other types of support 1,266 17.6 na na
Degree typec
Doctoral degree 5,456 75.7 2,421 84.3
Professional degree 27 0.4 35 1.2
Dual degree 22 0.3 19 0.7
Unknown 1,706 23.7 396 13.8
Degree origin
United States 2,417 33.5 na na
Foreign country 2,166 30.0 na na
Unknown 2,628 36.4 na na
na = not applicable; citizenship, race and ethnicity, source of support, mechanism of support, and degree origin data are not collected for doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers.
a Ethnicity and race data are available only for U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
b Nonfederal includes foreign support.
c Doctoral degree includes PhD, ScD, DEng, etc.; professional degree includes MD, DVM, DO, DDS, etc.; dual degree includes both professional and doctoral degrees (MD-PhD, DVM-PhD, etc.).
NOTES: "Field" refers to the field of the unit that reports postdoctorates and doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers to the Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering. Percentages may not add to total because of rounding.
SOURCE: National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 2017.