Indicator

The Academic Researcher Workforce

The interconnectedness of research, teaching, and public service activities in academia makes it difficult to assess the precise size and characteristics of the academic research workforce by examining the employment trends in academic positions. Individuals with the same academic job titles may be involved in research activities to differing degrees or not be involved in research. Therefore, self-reported research involvement is a better measure than position title for gauging research activity.¹ This section limits the analysis to academic S&E doctorate holders who reported that research is either their primary or secondary work activity (i.e., the activity that occupies the most or second-most hours of their work time during a typical work week).

Doctoral S&E Researchers

Since 1973, the number of U.S.-trained, academically employed S&E researchers grew from just over 80,000 to almost 200,000 (see table SEH doctorate holders employed in academia, by research priority, type of position, and degree field, 1973–2010). In 2010, of those identified as such researchers, over 140,000 were employed in full-time faculty positions.²

Looking across all doctoral academic positions and across the past four decades, the proportion of academically employed S&E doctorate holders who identified research as their primary or secondary activity has fluctuated between about 60% and 75%. A similar pattern of fluctuation occurred for full-time faculty. In 2010, 67% of S&E doctorate holders in academia classified research as their primary or secondary activity.³

Looking across fields, the proportions of researchers among all academic S&E doctorate holders and all fulltime faculty were higher in life sciences, engineering, and computer sciences than in social sciences and psychology (see table SEH doctorate holders employed in academia, by research priority, type of position, and degree field, 1973–2010). In most fields, the share of academic S&E doctorate holders who reported research as their primary or secondary responsibility declined slightly between 1993 and 2010.

A different picture emerges when considering those who report research as their primary work activity. In contrast to the declining share of academic employees who reported research as their primary or secondary work activity, the share who reported research as their primary work activity generally increased throughout the period from 1973 to 2010.

Among full-time doctoral S&E faculty, the increased share of doctorate holders reporting research as their primary work activity reflects a shift in priority from teaching to research. Over the last four decades, the proportion of fulltime faculty identifying research as their primary work activity climbed from 19% to 36%, while the share of faculty with teaching as their primary activity fell from 68% to 47%.

Primary work activity of full-time doctoral SEH faculty (1973–2010)

The balance of emphasis between teaching and research varied across the disciplines. A higher share of faculty with doctorate degrees in life sciences identified research as their primary work activity, and a higher share of faculty with doctorate degrees in mathematics and social sciences reported teaching as their primary activity. Since 1991, the proportion of doctorate holders who reported research as a primary work activity declined among computer scientists and life scientists but grew among mathematicians, psychologists, engineers, and social scientists (see table SEH doctorate holders employed in academia, by research priority, type of position, and degree field, 1973–2010).

S&E Full-Time Faculty

In 2010, 37% of the S&E doctoral faculty who had earned their degree since 2007 identified research as their primary work activity, a slightly lower share than that reported by faculty who had earned S&E doctorate degrees 4–7 years earlier or 8–11 years earlier (both 41%). The comparable percentage for faculty 12 or more years from receipt of their degree is somewhat lower (34%). The higher share of primary researchers within the second and third cohorts, 4–11 years since receiving their doctorate, coincides with the period during which many faculty would be preparing to apply for tenure at their university and would have heightened motivation to complete research projects and publish results. For faculty members who received their doctoral degree 12 or more years ago, other responsibilities—such as mentoring younger faculty, advising doctoral students, and accepting major committee assignments or faculty leadership roles—may become primary work activities.

A similar pattern across career stages prevailed in most degree fields. Research was more frequently a primary work activity for faculty in engineering than for faculty in other fields.

Graduate Research Assistants

The close coupling of advanced training with hands-on research experience is a key feature of U.S. graduate education. Many of the nearly one-half million full-time S&E graduate students in 2011 conduct research as part of their academic studies.

The number of research assistants—full-time graduate students whose primary mechanism of financial support is a research assistantship—has grown faster than graduate enrollment, both overall and in most fields. Graduate research assistantships were the primary means of support for 27% of graduate students in 2011, up from 22% in the early 1970s.

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