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CRA Taulbee Trends:
Early Employment of Ph.D.s
by Jay Vegso
<< Back to Taulbee Survey homepage
This article concerns the employment of computer science and computer engineering doctorates in the United States and Canada in the first year after they received their degrees.
The Taulbee Survey, which is conducted each Fall, asks for the employment status of those who received Ph.D. degrees during the previous academic year (AY). Due to changes in the survey, including the addition of new employment categories, it is difficult to trace employment trends before AY1984/1985.
Table 1 shows the results from AY1984/1985 onward as percentiles, since these are more useful for tracking trends than raw numbers. These figures exclude the approximately 15 to 20 percent of doctorates whose employment status were unknown each year, as well as those who were listed as unemployed (who average to only 1 percent).
Figure 1 illustrates the proportion of doctorates who were employed outside of academia (i.e., if self-employed, or in industry or government), academia (i.e., in Ph.D. and non-Ph.D.-granting CS/CE departments, as well as in non-CS/CE departments), and outside North America.
| Table 1. Employment of New Ph.D. Recipients | |||||||
| Ph.D Received in Academic Year |
Ph.D.-Granting CS/CE
Dept.
|
Non-Ph.D.-Granting
CS/CE Dept.
|
Non-CS/CE Dept.
|
Industry
|
Government
|
Self-Employed
|
Outside U.S./Canada
|
| 1984/1985 |
36%
|
10%
|
4%
|
34%
|
4%
|
2%
|
10%
|
| 1985/1986 |
39%
|
7%
|
3%
|
37%
|
5%
|
1%
|
9%
|
| 1986/1987 |
39%
|
9%
|
4%
|
37%
|
4%
|
1%
|
8%
|
| 1987/1988 |
40%
|
9%
|
3%
|
33%
|
4%
|
0%
|
11%
|
| 1988/1989 |
39%
|
10%
|
4%
|
34%
|
4%
|
1%
|
9%
|
| 1989/1990 |
30%
|
11%
|
3%
|
38%
|
3%
|
2%
|
13%
|
| 1990/1991 |
29%
|
10%
|
2%
|
42%
|
3%
|
2%
|
13%
|
| 1991/1992 |
25%
|
9%
|
3%
|
41%
|
4%
|
2%
|
16%
|
| 1992/1993 |
26%
|
12%
|
4%
|
37%
|
4%
|
2%
|
15%
|
| 1993/1994 |
24%
|
9%
|
3%
|
38%
|
4%
|
2%
|
18%
|
| 1994/1995 |
26%
|
8%
|
1%
|
41%
|
5%
|
2%
|
16%
|
| 1995/1996 |
31%
|
3%
|
2%
|
49%
|
3%
|
2%
|
9%
|
| 1996/1997 |
30%
|
4%
|
2%
|
54%
|
3%
|
2%
|
5%
|
| 1997/1998 |
35%
|
3%
|
1%
|
50%
|
4%
|
2%
|
5%
|
| 1998/1999 |
38%
|
3%
|
0%
|
49%
|
2%
|
3%
|
3%
|
| 1999/2000 |
38%
|
3%
|
1%
|
50%
|
3%
|
1%
|
4%
|
| 2000/2001 |
39%
|
4%
|
0%
|
49%
|
2%
|
1%
|
4%
|
| 2001/2002 | 52% | 1% | 1% | 39% | 3% | 0% | 5% |
| 2002/2003 | 58% | 4% | 1% | 29% | 2% | 1% | 4% |
| 2003/2004 | 56% | 4% | 0% | 30% | 3% | 1% | 5% |
| 2004/2005 | 35% | 7% | 2% | 41% | 3% | 1% | 12% |
| 2005/2006 | 26% | 5% | 1% | 50% | 3% | 1% | 13% |
Figure 1.
[Last updated July 31, 2007]
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