Characteristics of Doctoral Scientists and Engineers in the United States: 2006. Detailed Statistical Tables. NSF 09-317

This report presents data from the 2006 Survey of Doctorate Recipients (SDR). The SDR is a panel survey that collects longitudinal data, biennially, on demographic and general employment characteristics of individuals who have received a doctorate in a science, engineering, or health field from a U.S. academic institution. Sampled individuals are followed from shortly after they receive their doctorate through age 75 years. The SDR sample is augmented each cycle with new samples of the most recent cohorts of science and engineering doctorate recipients, identified by the Survey of Earned Doctorates, an annual census of research doctorates awarded in the United States. The detailed statistical tables presented provide information on the number and median salaries of doctoral scientists and engineers by field of doctorate and occupation; demographic characteristics, such as sex, race/ethnicity, citizenship, and age; and employment-related characteristics, such as sector of employment, employer location, and labor-force rates. Appendix A provides technical information about the survey methodology, coverage, concepts, definitions, sampling errors, and standard error tables; Appendix B provides crosswalks defining field of doctorate and occupation classifications used in survey sampling. The 2006 SDR mail questionnaire is provided in appendix C. The National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health sponsored the 2006 survey, which was conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. It is the 17th in a series of surveys initiated in 1973 in response to the needs of the federal government for demographic and employment information on scientists and engineers trained at the doctoral level. The goal of the 2006 SDR is to provide policymakers and researchers with high-quality data on the career patterns and achievements of the nation's doctoral scientists and engineers. (Contains 1 footnote, 164 tables and 4 notes.)