Asee peer logo

Board 97: Is Postdoctoral Training Linked to Faculty Careers and Higher Salaries among Engineering Ph.D.s?

Download Paper |

Conference

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Tampa, Florida

Publication Date

June 15, 2019

Start Date

June 15, 2019

End Date

June 19, 2019

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Tagged Topic

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Page Count

30

DOI

10.18260/1-2--32471

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/32471

Download Count

505

Request a correction

Paper Authors

biography

Joyce B. Main Purdue University-Main Campus, West Lafayette (College of Engineering) Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0002-3984-533X

visit author page

Joyce B. Main is Assistant Professor of Engineering Education at Purdue University. She holds a Ph.D. in Learning, Teaching, and Social Policy from Cornell University, and an Ed.M. in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

visit author page

author page

Yanbing Wang Purdue University

Download Paper |

Abstract

The number of engineering PhDs obtaining postdoctoral research scholar employment has increased over the last 20 years. This study examines the factors associated with obtaining postdoc positions, and the early career outcomes associated with postdoc training. Descriptive and regression analyses, and propensity score matching are conducted using a nationally representative sample of engineering PhDs from the 1993-2013 National Science Foundation Survey of Doctorate Recipients matched with the 1985-2013 Survey of Earned Doctorates. Findings show that engineering PhDs with greater research experience, research ability, or who graduated from doctoral programs with more prevalent postdoc employment among previous PhD cohorts, tend to be more likely to obtain postdoc positions. Compared to PhDs who obtain non-academic positions, postdoc training is associated with greater likelihood of attaining tenure track faculty positions and remaining in academia 7-9 years after PhD graduation. In terms of early career salary, postdoc training may delay salary growth among engineering PhDs who are eventually employed in the private sector, but not among those who are eventually employed in the academic sector. Research findings provide critical information regarding the outlook for postdoctoral employment and its role in the long-term career paths of engineering PhDs.

Main, J. B., & Wang, Y. (2019, June), Board 97: Is Postdoctoral Training Linked to Faculty Careers and Higher Salaries among Engineering Ph.D.s? Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--32471

ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2019 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015