U.S. postdoctoral careers in life sciences, physical sciences and engineering: Government, industry, and academia.

ABSTRACT: Discussions about science and engineering postdoctoral researchers focus almost exclusively on academic postdocs and their chances of eventually securing tenure-track faculty positions. Further, biological sciences dominate policy research and published advice for new PhDs regarding postdoctoral employment. Our analysis uses the Survey of Earned Doctorates and Survey of Doctorate Recipients to understand employment implications for physical sciences and engineering (PSE) and life sciences (LS) graduates who took postdoctoral positions in government, industry, and academic sectors. We examine postdoc duration, reasons for staying in a postdoc, movement between sectors, and salary implications. There is considerable movement between employment sectors within the first six years post-PhD. Add

SUBMITTER: Denton M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8809557 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature