Report

In the 2022 academic year, doctorate recipients encountered multiple challenges from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Disruption in research was the most frequent impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, cited by 67% of respondents—an increase from 48% reported in 2021 (figure 27). Of those whose research was disrupted, 81% indicated they had limited or no access to resources needed for research and two-thirds reported they had to make changes to their research plan (table B).^{​Doctorate recipients were allowed to provide multiple responses as to how their research was disrupted.} The second most frequent impact in 2022 was a delay in the timeline for completing the doctoral degree, cited by 53% of doctorate recipients—an increase from the 39% reported in 2021.

In addition, short- and long-term postgraduation plans continued to be affected by the pandemic in 2022, with 35% of doctorate recipients indicating their immediate postgraduation employment or education plans had changed (38% in 2021). Of these doctorate recipients, 78% attributed the changes to limited job opportunities, 36% indicated they had to accept a less-desirable job, and 20% reported they had changed plans in other ways (table C).^{​Doctorate recipients were allowed to provide multiple responses as to how their postgraduation employment or education plans changed.} In 2022, over a quarter (28%) of doctorate recipients said their plans about where to live in the year after graduation had been affected (31% in 2021), and 24% said that their long-term career plans or goals had changed (similar to 2021) (figure 27). Among the latter, 55% mentioned they had changed their long-term career plans or goals for a different type of job or field, 54% for a different type of employer, 42% for new opportunities, and 14% for other kinds of career (table D).^{​NCSES, special tabulation (2023) of the 2022 SED. Doctorate recipients were allowed to provide multiple responses as to how their long-term career plans or goals changed.}

The pandemic also had a financial impact on doctorate recipients. In 2022, 10% reported that funding for their doctoral studies had been reduced or suspended (versus 7% in 2021). For most sources of funding, the proportion of doctorate recipients who mentioned their graduate school funding was reduced or suspended did not vary by the primary source of funding they had received. However, a larger proportion of those whose funding had been impacted by the pandemic relied on teaching assistantships as their primary financial support source (28%) than those whose funding had not been impacted by the pandemic (21%).^{​NCSES, special tabulation (2023) of the 2022 SED.}

In 2022, the vast majority of doctorate recipients (89%) responding to the COVID-19 pandemic impact questions reported their graduate experience and career plans were affected by at least one of the impacts detailed above—an increase from 77% in 2021.^{​NCSES, special tabulations (2022) of the 2022 SED.}

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic varied by broad field. Doctorate recipients in fields where laboratories, equipment, and other facilities are indispensable—such as biological and biomedical sciences and physical sciences within S&E (figure 28) and visual and performing arts within non-S&E fields (figure 29)—reported the highest levels of disruption to their research. In contrast, those in mathematics and statistics and computer and information sciences reported the lowest levels of research disruption. Over half of doctorate recipients in most S&E fields reported delays in their doctoral degree completion timeline. Delays were more prevalent in biological and biomedical sciences (60%) than in mathematics and statistics (38%) and psychology (38%).

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on doctorate recipients’ short- and long-term postgraduation plans also varied by field. A larger proportion of doctorate recipients in social sciences (34%) indicated that their plans about where to live in the year after graduation were affected, compared with their counterparts in health sciences (22%) and in psychology (24%). Doctorate recipients in health sciences, psychology, and biological and biomedical sciences were the least affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of their immediate postgraduate employment or education plans. A slightly larger proportion of doctorate recipients in social sciences than in other S&E fields mentioned that the pandemic impacted their long-term career plans or goals.

Although the pandemic’s impact on funding was the lowest of all impact areas overall, the proportion of doctorate recipients who indicated their funding was reduced or suspended was larger in non-S&E fields (12%) than in all S&E fields except social sciences (12%). The fields least affected in terms of funding were biological and biomedical sciences (7%) and physical sciences (7%).

Among non-S&E doctorate recipients, those in visual and performing arts reported the highest disruption in research (74%) (figure 29). A similar pattern is observed regarding the pandemic’s impact on their immediate postgraduate employment or education plans, their long-term career plans or goals, and the funding for their doctoral studies. Lower proportions of doctorate recipients in business indicated that their research was disrupted or their timeline for the completion of their studies had been delayed than those in other non-S&E broad fields. Similarly, doctorate recipients in education least frequently indicated impacts on their plans about where to live in the year after graduation, immediate postgraduate employment or education plans, or long-term career plans.

The COVID-19 pandemic had varying effects across doctorate recipients in different types of institutions. Doctorate recipients from very high research institutions reported impacts on their research, immediate postgraduate employment or education plans, or plans about where to live in the year after graduation in higher proportions than doctorate recipients from high research institutions, who in turn reported those three impacts in larger proportions than those in doctoral/professional institutions (figure 30). Doctorate recipients at very high and at high research institutions reported being similarly impacted regarding the timeline for completing their doctorate—over half indicated that their timeline was delayed, a higher proportion than their counterparts at doctoral/professional institutions (46%).