Looking to earn a PhD degree? PhDs.org's rankings can help narrow down your choices.

Choose from our menu to learn more.

Postdoc Surveys

Back to Postdoctoral Life

Resources

Doctors Without Orders: Highlights of the Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey Results of Sigma Xi's survey of 7600 postdocs at 46 US institutions. Very interesting discussion of salaries, training, and administrative oversight.
You've Got the Data! Now Advocate for Change! "In this article, we learn how survey results can be used to advocate for change at the administrative level."
Report on the Status of the Postdoctoral Experience at UNC-CH Results of a 2000 survey by the UNC PDA
Survey of Surveys II: Polling Postdocs Effectively Science's Next Wave, July 5, 2002. "A periodically administered survey of the postdoc population can provide accurate information that would help policy-makers establish priorities and also set a baseline against which changes in science postdocs' conditions can be measured. In many cases, postdocs have taken this task upon themselves, designing and administering surveys at the departmental and institutional levels. For local change, this process can be effective."
UC Davis Postdoctoral Scholars Association Survey Results of a Spring 2000 survey. (Requires Adobe Acrobat)
UW-Madison Postdoctoral Scholar Survey Results of a 2001 survey at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Surveying Postdocs: A Tale From the Trenches "A survey is one method for achieving a broader understanding of the postdoc condition. Our nascent Postdoctoral Association (PDA) in the Biological Sciences Division (BSD) at the University of Chicago formed around a core of regular seminars and workshops and e-mail communications. We embarked on a comprehensive survey as a first major initiative toward becoming an organization that could represent and address the needs of postdocs in our division. Anecdotes may get attention through emotion, but numbers make the case."
Stanford University Postdoc Survey A 2008 survey by the Stanford PDA
AAU Postdoctoral Education Survey, 2005 The AAU conducted a survey of its member institutions' postdoc policies. Here are the results.
Survey of Surveys I: What Postdoc Association Surveys Tell Us About Postdoc Working Conditions Science's Next Wave, June 21, 2002. "An important first step is for institutions to take a census of their postdoctoral populations. Many institutions, especially universities, have no accurate count or counting mechanism."
Agitators on the Inside "In this article, the first of a three-part series, I reflect upon my time as a postdoctoral 'agitator' and its impact on my professional development."
University of Chicago's Division of Biological Sciences PDA Survey Results of a 2000-2001 survey.
The Sigma Xi Postdoc Survey Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, is working to coordinate a nation-wide set of postdoc office and association surveys during the 2003-4 academic year. The surveys will investigate salaries and benefits and seeks to shed light on which aspects of the postdoctoral experience that are most strongly associated with positive and productive outcomes. An important aim is to enable institutions to compare their postdoc policies and practices to those of their peers. The survey is being conducted in partnership with the National Postdoctoral Association, Science's Next Wave, and the National Bureau of Economic Research's Science and Engineering Workforce Project.
Exit Surveys from the Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine A summary of exit surveys for 1998 from the Task Force on Women's Academic Careers in Medicine and the Office of Postdoctoral Programs.
AAU Ad Hoc Committee on Postdoctoral Education Survey A 1995 survey of the 25 member institutions of the Association of American Universities on their postdoctoral policies.
FHCRC Career Development / Child Care Survey Results A 1999 Survey from the postdoc association at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.