What are the postgraduation trends?

First postgraduate position

Postdoc positions

Historically, postdoc study positions have been a customary part of the early career paths of doctoral scientists in life sciences and in physical sciences and earth sciences, and they have also become increasingly prevalent among recent doctoral graduates in mathematics and computer sciences, psychology and social sciences, and engineering. In 2010, the proportion of S&E doctorate recipients taking postdoc positions in the United States peaked and has since been in decline. Still, in 2016, 47% of all S&E doctorate recipients took postdoc positions immediately after graduation, including 63% of graduates in the life sciences.

U.S. postdoc rate for U.S. doctorate recipients, by broad field of study: 1996–2016

Print
(Percent)
Year All fields S&E fields Life sciences Physical sciences and earth sciences Mathematics and computer sciences Psychology and social sciences Engineering Non-S&E fields
1996 29.9 43.4 68.0 59.7 24.8 23.0 23.1 3.8
1997 28.7 40.6 63.0 56.5 21.1 21.8 21.2 4.0
1998 29.3 40.8 63.4 55.5 20.9 25.1 19.4 5.2
1999 30.4 42.9 65.9 56.1 23.5 26.3 22.6 5.4
2000 28.9 41.0 62.7 55.6 21.9 24.8 21.3 5.1
2001 29.2 40.5 63.5 51.6 24.5 26.8 18.8 6.8
2002 30.7 43.3 61.7 56.8 30.9 27.1 25.6 6.8
2003 33.3 47.3 65.6 60.7 33.2 28.8 33.9 6.8
2004 35.8 50.8 69.4 65.9 34.3 31.0 38.5 6.8
2005 35.9 49.4 68.6 66.0 32.8 30.8 34.1 7.2
2006 34.0 46.5 66.1 63.5 28.9 30.1 30.0 6.5
2007 35.9 48.1 66.9 65.7 28.8 33.2 31.5 7.4
2008 35.4 47.3 66.5 63.3 30.2 33.2 30.1 7.6
2009 37.4 49.5 67.7 65.0 31.8 33.0 35.7 7.5
2010 43.0 55.2 70.9 72.2 39.7 35.2 46.1 9.4
2011 42.7 53.5 70.2 67.7 37.4 38.5 41.4 10.5
2012 40.1 50.4 67.2 66.6 33.2 38.3 35.5 9.4
2013 39.1 48.8 65.0 64.9 31.2 37.5 35.1 10.0
2014 38.9 47.6 65.8 60.2 30.6 37.2 33.3 10.9
2015 39.3 47.9 64.1 62.3 30.4 38.2 35.3 12.2
2016 38.5 46.7 62.6 59.1 29.2 37.9 33.4 11.6