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News Release 17-060

Increased sample size in 2015 Survey of Doctorate Recipients enables first time reporting on fine fields of study

Survey reports employment characteristics for more than 200 fields of study

787,250 U.S. trained doctorate holders in science, engineering, and health fields were employed in 2015.

Survey collected detail about 787,250 employed doctorate holders.


July 12, 2017

This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.

The National Science Foundation's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics has more than doubled the sample size of its 2015 Survey of Doctorate Recipients in order to examine employment characteristics for specific fields of degree for the first time.

The 2015 survey reports employment data for eight broad degree fields, as well as more than 200 "fine" fields of degree within those broad categories.

More than 1 million people worldwide held doctorates from U.S. institutions in science, engineering and health (SEH) fields. The 2015 survey sampled data from 120,000 people who had earned doctorates from U.S. institutions in SEH fields.

About 88 percent of SEH doctorate holders resided in the United States and 12 percent abroad. Of doctorate holders residing in the United States, 87 percent were part of the labor force, with 76 percent working full time. Of those not residing in the United States, 94 percent were part of the labor force.

In the United States, 47 percent of working doctorate holders were employed in the business/industry sector and 45 percent at educational institutions. Most of the doctorate holders working abroad (66 percent) were employed in the education sector.

Of doctorate holders residing in the United States, 41 percent were performing research and development (R&D) as their primary work activity. When R&D was reported as either a primary or secondary work activity, the rate increased to 63 percent.

Of the eight broad fields of degree in the survey, the rate of R&D as a primary activity ranged from 18 percent for psychology doctorate holders to 54 percent for engineering doctorate holders.

Nearly 40 percent of the U.S.-trained doctorate holders were born outside the United States, and 73 percent of this group remained in the United States in 2015. At the time of their graduation, doctorate holders born outside the United States included those with temporary visas (72 percent), permanent residents (15 percent), and U.S. citizens (13 percent).

For more information and detailed breakdowns of data, read the full report.

-NSF-

Media Contacts
Stanley Dambroski, NSF, (703) 292-7728, email: sdambros@nsf.gov

Program Contacts
Daniel Foley, NSF, (703) 292-7811, email: dfoley@nsf.gov
Wan-Ying Chang, NSF, (703) 292-2310, email: wchang@nsf.gov

The U.S. National Science Foundation propels the nation forward by advancing fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. NSF supports research and people by providing facilities, instruments and funding to support their ingenuity and sustain the U.S. as a global leader in research and innovation. With a fiscal year 2023 budget of $9.5 billion, NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 40,000 competitive proposals and makes about 11,000 new awards. Those awards include support for cooperative research with industry, Arctic and Antarctic research and operations, and U.S. participation in international scientific efforts.

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