Four SRS surveys provide information relevant to the postdoc-research community:
1. Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED):
Annual exist survey of PhD recipients from US institutions. It asks respondents if they intend to take a postdoc. SED does not include researchers with a foreign PhDs or PhD-equivalent, and provides very limited information on individuals who hold professional degrees.
2. Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR):
Follow-up survey of participants in the SED. SDR focuses on PhD-holders in science, health, and engineering (S&E) fields. It collects information about employment status and professional activities. It is conducted every two years.
Like SED, it does not include researchers with a foreign PhDs or PhD-equivalent, and provides very limited information on recipients of professional degrees. It provides limited data on foreign nationals who obtained their PhD from US institution.
3. Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering (GSS):
Annual survey of US academic institutions. GSS respondents report on departments within their institution. They provide aggregate data on postdocs, graduate students, and non-faculty research staff. One limitation of GSS is that it combines data about US- and foreign-degreed postdocs.
4. National Survey of Recent College Graduates (NSRCG):
Two-stage survey of individuals who have recently earned a bachelor’s or master’s degree in science, engineering, and health disciplines. It is conducted every four years.
| Segment |
GSS |
SED |
SDR |
| Country of PhD and citizenship/residency |
- US degree, US citizen/resident
|
* |
|
|
- US degree, non-US citizen/resident
|
* |
|
|
- Non-US degree, non-US citizen/resident
|
* |
|
|
| Data type |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Degree-type |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Research Field |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Respondent |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Sector |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* GSS combines data for US- and foreign-degreed postdocs |
Other Surveys
There are other small-scale and ad hoc studies of postdocs in the government and private sector. But even after combining all sources of information, a portion of the data needs is not met. “Many of the important data elements have never been collected, and none of the existing resources meet the need for comprehensive information on all postdoc segments.”
|