The Shifting Demographic Composition of Postdoctoral Researchers at Federally Funded Research and Development Centers in 2021

The FFRDC Postdoc Survey addresses many questions, including who receives postdoctoral training at FFRDCs. This section highlights the demographic characteristics of postdocs receiving training at FFRDCs, focusing on the changes between 2019 and 2021. Note that this was the first FFRDC Postdoc Survey conducted since the COVID-19 pandemic began in spring 2020. The pandemic brought about travel restrictions and limitations that, particularly in 2020, impacted the ability of foreign nationals to secure temporary visas to study or train in the United States, particularly for those who were not already studying or working in the country when restrictions when into effect.^{​In 2020, the GSS saw a decline in postdocs with temporary visas. See Davies C, Arbeit CA, Yamaner MI; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). 2022. Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Science, Engineering, and Health Graduate Enrollment: U.S. Part-Time Enrollment Increases as Full-Time Temporary Visa Holder Enrollment Declines. NSF 22-317. Alexandria, VA: National Science Foundation. Available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22317/.} The 2021 data suggest that COVID-19 did not slow the growth of postdocs at FFRDCs but did impact the opportunities available to temporary visa holders.

The overall number of postdocs at FFRDCs grew by 302 (9.1%) between 2019 and 2021 (figure 1, table 1), with the number of women growing by 121 (14.1%) to 980. Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, there were an additional 149 female postdocs at FFRDCs between 2019 and 2021, a 38.7% increase and an increase of 3.1 percentage points. This is the largest increase since the number of female postdocs who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents increased by 61 between 2013 and 2015.

Among U.S. citizens and permanent residents, the number of postdocs who are Hispanic or Latino, Asian, White, or more than one race all increased by over 20% between 2019 and 2021. These changes, along with the increase in the number of women, indicate a slowly diversifying postdoc population at FFRDCs.

About half of all postdocs at FFRDCs were temporary visa holders in both 2019 (57.2%) and 2021 (51.1%), even after a 2.5% decline in the number of postdocs who were temporary visa holders. The total decline was 48 postdocs, 28 women (5.9% decrease) and 20 men (1.4% decrease). Even with the recent decline in the number of postdocs with a temporary visa, there were 395 more temporary visa holder postdocs in 2021 than in 2013 (figure 1).

Overall, 70.7% of postdocs in FFRDCs engage in science research, 25.9% conduct research in engineering, and 3.4% perform research in other or unknown fields (table 2). Almost half (47.8%) of postdocs at FFRDCs work in research fields in the physical sciences, with 23.9% of all postdocs conducting research in physics and astronomy, 12.6% in chemistry, and 11.3% in materials science and chemistry. Outside of the physical sciences, the next largest fields were biological and biomedical sciences (7.1%) and geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences (6.7%) (table 2).

Although the general distribution of postdocs is similar across fields for temporary visa holders and U.S. citizens and permanent residents, there are some differences. Fields of research that have a higher percentage of temporary visa holders than U.S. citizens and permanent residents are in the fields of materials science and chemistry (13.0% versus 9.6%), physics and astronomy (25.3% versus 22.4%), and mechanical engineering (6.1% versus 3.3%). Conversely, the following research fields have a higher percentage of postdocs at FFRDCs who are U.S. citizens and permanent residents than who are temporary visa holders: chemistry (14.9% versus 10.4%), biological and medical sciences (8.7% versus 5.5%), and engineering science, mechanics, and physics (4.8% versus 2.0%).

FFRDCs sponsored by the Department of Energy (DOE) train the majority of postdocs (3,357, or 92.3%). At both DOE and non-DOE FFRDCs, about a quarter (23.7% and 26.8%, respectively) are engaged in physics and astronomy research. A quarter (25.4%) of the postdocs at DOE FFRDCs are engaged in either chemistry (13.2%) or materials science and chemistry (12.2%) research, compared with 6.4% of postdocs engaged in such research in both fields at non-DOE FFRDCs. Similarly, over a quarter (26.6%) of postdocs at DOE FFRDCs are engaged in engineering research, compared with 17.5% of postdocs at non-DOE FFRDCs (table 2).

At FFRDCs not sponsored by DOE, the field of research with the largest percentage of postdocs is geosciences, atmospheric sciences, and ocean sciences, with about a third (32.5%) of postdocs engaging in research in these fields, compared with 4.5% of postdocs at DOE FFRDCs. Proportionally more postdocs at non-DOE FFRDCs than at DOE FFRDCs research electrical, electronics, communications, and computer engineering (8.2% versus 3.7%) or multidisciplinary fields (5.7% versus 2.3%). Physics and astronomy training occurs in similar proportions across DOE and non-DOE FFRDCs; however, there is less overlap in the proportion of postdocs in other fields (table 2).

The 2021 Survey of Postdocs at FFRDCs collected data from FFRDCs listed in the March 2021 Master Government List of FFRDCs that is maintained by NCSES within NSF.^{​For the Master Government List of FFRDCs used for this survey, please see https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/ffrdclist/archive/ffrdc-2021.xlsx.} Of the 43 FFRDCs listed, 25 FFRDCs reported employing postdocs to the 2021 FFRDC Postdoc Survey. Representatives from each FFRDC report their data on the number of postdocs employed at the institution; data reported to the survey are categorized by citizenship, sex, race, and ethnicity; source of financial support; and fields of research. The reference date for this survey cycle was 1 October 2021. The survey is conducted in conjunction with the GSS, which is sponsored by NCSES within NSF as well as by NIH.

Consistent with the NSF and NIH definitions, the FFRDC Postdoc Survey defines a postdoc as an appointee who holds a PhD or equivalent doctoral degree; whose doctorate was awarded recently, generally within the past 5 years; whose appointment is term-limited, generally no more than 5–7 years;^{​In the GSS COVID Impact Module, 16% of coordinators (and over 24% at very high research activity public institutions) reported changes to postdoctoral duration due to the pandemic. Thus, while the general rule is 5–7 years for a postdoc, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some FFRDCs could have extended postdoc training periods. See Arbeit CA, Yamaner MI; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). 2021. Universities Report Growth in U.S. Citizen and Permanent Resident Enrollment along with Declines in Enrollment of Temporary Visa Holders at Master’s and Doctoral Levels Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. NSF 22-313. Alexandria, VA: National Science Foundation. Available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22313/.} who works under the supervision of a senior researcher; and whose appointment is primarily for the purpose of training in research or scholarship.

Exercise caution when using trend data because changes in how FFRDCs define their postdocs, maintain their administrative data, and report unknown responses can affect data comparability trends. In 2021, the FFRDC Postdoc Survey updated the fields and field titles used for reporting. This change keeps the field reporting similar to the GSS, which added fields and modified field labels in the 2020 cycle. Most notably for users, the FFRDC Postdoc Survey collects data on the sciences aligned with the GSS broad fields and detailed fields for physical sciences. Materials science and chemistry was added in 2021 due to the large number of postdocs in that field. Engineering field labels were adjusted to align with the GSS. The FFRDC Postdoc Survey continues to include a small number of postdocs at FFRDCs who do not engage primarily in science, engineering, and health research.

Detailed data from this survey are available at https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvyffrdcpd/. For more information on the FFRDC Postdoc Survey, please contact the Survey Manager.

Stoetzel JM, Arbeit CA, Yamaner MI; National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES). 2022. The Shifting Demographic Composition of Postdoctoral Researchers at Federally Funded Research and Development Centers: 2021. NSF 22-345. Alexandria, VA: National Science Foundation. Available at https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf22345.

Jack M. Stoetzel
RTI International, under contract to NCSES

Caren A. Arbeit
RTI International, under contract to NCSES

Michael I. Yamaner
Survey Manager
Tel: (703) 292-7815
E-mail: myamaner@nsf.gov

National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics
Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences
National Science Foundation
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