Characteristics of Recipients of Research Doctorates

Of all doctorate recipients with definite postdoctoral employment plans, those with doctorates in engineering were most likely to have secured jobs in industry or business, while education and humanities and arts recipients were the least likely to have done so. Mathematics and computer-science recipients expected to earn the highest average salaries among doctorate recipients employed in industry or business. The broad fields of engineering and mathematics and computer science had the highest percentages of Asian recipients, while mathematics and computer science had the lowest percentage of Hispanic recipients.

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Or subscribe now to read with unlimited access for as low as $10/month.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

A free account provides you access to a limited number of free articles each month, plus newsletters, job postings, salary data, and exclusive store discounts.

	All fields	Life sciences	Physical sciences	Mathematics and computer science	Psychology and social sciences	Engineering	Education	Humanities and arts	Other
All doctorate recipients	54,664	12,592	6,081	3,843	9,079	9,843	4,823	5,290	3,113
Percentage	100.0%	23.0%	11.1%	7.0%	16.6%	18.0%	8.8%	9.7%	5.7%
Median age at award	31.6	31.0	29.5	30.4	32.3	29.9	38.3	34.1	34.8
Time to doctorate
Median number of years from bachelor’s degree to doctorate	8.8	8.3	6.9	7.9	9.3	7.3	15.0	11.0	11.4
Median number of years from start of doctoral program	5.8	5.8	5.7	5.7	6.0	5.3	6.3	7.1	5.8
Other degrees received
Percentage with bachelor’s degree in same field as doctorate	54.7%	48.5%	68.8%	61.5%	51.9%	76.9%	23.7%	51.5%	34.9%
Percentage with a master’s degree in any field	70.2%	51.8%	52.2%	72.7%	82.4%	72.2%	88.2%	85.1%	81.8%
Sex
Male	53.3%	44.7%	66.9%	74.6%	40.7%	75.1%	31.5%	48.8%	44.9%
Female	46.6%	55.3%	33.1%	25.4%	59.3%	24.9%	68.4%	51.2%	55.0%
Citizenship
U.S. citizen or permanent resident	65.5%	70.3%	61.1%	45.4%	75.7%	44.1%	83.9%	81.1%	61.7%
Temporary visa holder	29.9%	26.4%	35.5%	50.2%	18.5%	51.5%	11.1%	13.1%	29.8%
Unknown	4.7%	3.2%	3.4%	4.3%	5.8%	4.4%	5.0%	5.8%	8.5%
Marital status
Never married	32.1%	33.3%	41.4%	39.3%	28.3%	39.3%	17.6%	25.7%	21.7%
Married	44.5%	44.4%	37.2%	41.1%	43.3%	41.3%	57.2%	47.8%	51.3%
Marriagelike relationship	8.4%	9.9%	10.6%	6.2%	10.0%	6.2%	5.0%	10.1%	5.5%
Separated, divorced, widowed	3.3%	3.1%	1.5%	1.9%	4.0%	1.5%	7.0%	4.5%	4.8%
Unknown	11.7%	9.3%	9.3%	11.5%	14.4%	11.7%	13.2%	11.9%	16.6%
Race/ethnicity of the 35,791 U.S. citizens and permanent residents
American Indian or Alaska Native	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%	0.1%	0.4%	0.2%	0.5%	0.4%	0.2%
Asian	9.8%	11.4%	9.6%	15.8%	7.7%	16.9%	5.5%	4.2%	9.7%
Black/African-American	6.7%	6.5%	2.5%	2.8%	7.7%	3.9%	14.7%	3.4%	12.8%
Hispanic	7.1%	6.8%	5.8%	4.5%	8.4%	6.6%	8.2%	7.2%	7.0%
White, non-Hispanic	69.5%	68.4%	76.0%	67.6%	69.3%	64.9%	65.7%	78.2%	63.7%
2 or more races	2.8%	3.2%	3.0%	2.9%	3.0%	2.6%	2.1%	2.7%	2.7%
Other/unknown	3.7%	3.3%	2.9%	6.3%	3.5%	4.8%	3.3%	3.9%	4.0%
Postdoctoral plans among the 48,814 people who reported definite plans
Definite postdoctoral study	25.8%	38.2%	38.7%	22.4%	27.7%	23.7%	5.8%	11.8%	6.5%
Definite employment	40.2%	25.9%	26.7%	49.8%	44.0%	39.8%	62.5%	44.4%	66.9%
Seeking employment or study	30.3%	30.4%	32.2%	25.1%	25.8%	33.5%	27.7%	39.7%	23.4%
Other	3.6%	5.5%	2.5%	2.6%	2.5%	3.1%	3.9%	4.1%	3.2%
• For the 12,604 people planning definite postdoctoral study, what type
Postdoc fellowship or research associateship	94.2%	93.8%	98.1%	96.0%	90.7%	94.6%	86.9%	95.1%	91.1%
Other	5.8%	6.2%	1.9%	4.0%	9.3%	5.4%	13.1%	4.9%	8.9%
• For the 19,635 people planning definite employment, what type
Sector
Academe	48.2%	42.6%	25.7%	33.3%	58.3%	17.1%	61.6%	76.7%	80.3%
Government	7.7%	10.6%	8.9%	4.3%	11.9%	8.9%	4.1%	2.7%	5.1%
Industry/business	32.9%	35.2%	59.7%	58.1%	18.1%	69.9%	5.3%	5.9%	9.8%
Nonprofit organization	6.2%	9.8%	3.6%	3.1%	8.3%	3.4%	6.0%	9.2%	3.7%
Other/unknown	5.0%	1.8%	2.0%	1.2%	3.4%	0.7%	23.0%	5.5%	1.1%
Primary employment activity
Research and development	41.6%	44.9%	62.1%	62.0%	35.7%	71.0%	12.8%	8.8%	34.4%
Teaching	32.9%	24.7%	19.8%	24.3%	35.5%	9.8%	41.6%	71.1%	48.0%
Management or administration	10.4%	9.4%	3.5%	2.3%	8.4%	4.3%	32.7%	9.5%	9.9%
Professional services	10.0%	14.7%	8.7%	6.1%	16.0%	8.5%	8.6%	5.0%	5.7%
Other	5.1%	6.3%	5.9%	5.2%	4.4%	6.5%	4.3%	5.6%	1.9%
Median basic salary
Academe	$63,000	$65,000	$52,000	$70,000	$63,000	$79,000	$64,000	$50,000	$86,000
Government	$80,800	$72,000	$71,600	$101,000	$77,500	$94,500	$79,000	$67,000	$90,000
Industry/business	$100,000	$90,000	$100,000	$125,000	$97,000	$102,000	$80,000	$65,000	$115,000
Nonprofit organization	$79,000	$83,000	$85,000	$120,000	$75,000	$100,000	$75,000	$50,000	$80,000
Other/unknown	$70,000	$60,000	$48,025	$65,500	$65,000	$85,000	$75,000	$53,750	$76,500

Note: “Life sciences” includes agricultural sciences and natural resources, biological and biomedical sciences, and health sciences. “Psychology and social sciences” includes economics. The column labeled “Other” includes business management and administration, and other nonscience and nonengineering fields not shown elsewhere. People who identified themselves as Hispanic may be of any race. Asians do not include Native Hawaiians or other Pacific Islanders; they are reported in the race/ethnicity category “Other/unknown.” A bachelor’s degree is counted as being in the same field as the doctorate if both degrees are in the same major field categories. The median number of years to doctorate from start of doctoral program includes years studying for a master’s degree if they were spent at the same institution where the candidate earned a doctorate and in the same fine field of study or were a prerequisite to the doctorate; otherwise, the number is based on doctoral-program entry. The employment sector “Industry/business” includes self-employment. The employment sector “Other/unknown” consists mainly of elementary and secondary schools. Percentages may not add up to 100 because of rounding or because responses in the other or unknown categories were excluded. Questions or comments on the Almanac should be sent to Ruth Hammond.

Source: Chronicle analysis of Survey of Earned Doctorates by National Science Foundation and five other federal agencies

Characteristics of Recipients of Research Doctorates, FY 2017

To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

Don’t have an account? Sign up now.

More News

From The Review

Upcoming Events