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Table 4-13b. Physical sciences postdoctoral appointee and doctorate-holding nonfaculty researcher demographics and funding: 2018

Characteristic Postdoctoral appointees Doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers
Number Percent Number Percent
Institutions 229 32.0 162 22.7
Schools 233 28.5 165 20.2
Units 551 2.8 377 1.9
All individuals 6,976 100.0 3,056 100.0
Male 5,411 77.6 2,440 79.8
Female 1,565 22.4 616 20.2
U.S. citizens and permanent residentsa 2,646 37.9 na na
Hispanic or Latino 126 1.8 na na
Not Hispanic or Latino
American Indian or Alaska Native 4 0.1 na na
Asian 498 7.1 na na
Black or African American 60 0.9 na na
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 2 * na na
White 1,601 23.0 na na
More than one race 40 0.6 na na
Unknown ethnicity and race 315 4.5 na na
Temporary visa holders 4,330 62.1 na na
Primary source of support
Federal 3,748 53.7 na na
Nonfederalb 2,795 40.1 na na
Personal resources 83 1.2 na na
Unknown or not stated 350 5.0 na na
Primary mechanism of support
Fellowships 714 10.2 na na
Research grants 4,904 70.3 na na
Traineeships 134 1.9 na na
Other types of support 1,224 17.5 na na
Degree typec
Doctoral degree 5,538 79.4 2,665 87.2
Professional degree 37 0.5 14 0.5
Dual degree 28 0.4 15 0.5
Unknown 1,373 19.7 362 11.8
Degree origin
United States 2,332 33.4 na na
Foreign country 2,135 30.6 na na
Unknown 2,509 36.0 na na
* = value < 0.05%; 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 Center for Science and Engineering Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering, 2018.