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Table 4-16b. Engineering postdoctoral appointee and doctorate-holding nonfaculty researcher demographics and funding: 2017

Characteristic Postdoctoral appointees Doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers
Number Percent Number Percent
Institutions 196 27.9 164 23.3
Schools 208 25.6 168 20.6
Units 989 5.3 706 3.8
All individuals 7,839 100.0 3,274 100.0
Male 6,087 77.7 2,530 77.3
Female 1,752 22.3 744 22.7
U.S. citizens and permanent residentsa 2,650 33.8 na na
Hispanic or Latino 119 1.5 na na
Not Hispanic or Latino
American Indian or Alaska Native 12 0.2 na na
Asian 687 8.8 na na
Black or African American 75 1.0 na na
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 7 0.1 na na
White 1,383 17.6 na na
More than one race 53 0.7 na na
Unknown ethnicity and race 314 4.0 na na
Temporary visa holders 5,189 66.2 na na
Primary source of support
Federal 3,683 47.0 na na
Nonfederalb 3,585 45.7 na na
Personal resources 71 0.9 na na
Unknown or not stated 500 6.4 na na
Primary mechanism of support
Fellowships 502 6.4 na na
Research grants 5,934 75.7 na na
Traineeships 100 1.3 na na
Other types of support 1,303 16.6 na na
Degree typec
Doctoral degree 6,018 76.8 2,608 79.7
Professional degree 79 1.0 124 3.8
Dual degree 48 0.6 42 1.3
Unknown 1,694 21.6 500 15.3
Degree origin
United States 3,071 39.2 na na
Foreign country 2,228 28.4 na na
Unknown 2,540 32.4 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.