Of new US PhDs with definite plans, 42% are headed to postdocs.
Two-thirds of US citizens and permanent residents looking towards their first post after a biology PhD in 2014 said that they planned to do postdoctoral research — the highest proportion in any scientific discipline, a report from the US National Science Foundation has found (see 'Next step on the ladder'). The survey, 'Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering', also found that biology PhDs outnumbered those in other scientific disciplines. Overall, 42% of science and engineering graduates who had plans said that they intended to do a postdoc, down from 44% in 2012, although the number of PhD recipients rose slightly. In 2001, 39% of graduates with definite plans were heading to a postdoc.
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Postdoctoral plans: PhD — now what?. Nature 535, 315 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nj7611-315a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nj7611-315a