Graduate Students and Postdoctorates
Description:
The economic literature on regional economic growth stresses the importance of high-quality human capital in the workforce. Graduate education at the state’s universities is a source of this talent. Science and engineering specialties are of particular importance to innovation.
The number of graduate students enrolled and the number of postdoctoral appointees in science, engineering and health disciplines in doctorate-granting institutions form this indicator. The numbers are reported by university and have been tallied into state and national totals. The numbers of graduate students and postdoctorates are expressed per 1 million residents on Arizona Indicators.
Data Source:
National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Science Resources Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/gradpostdoc. For the graduate student data, the path to the table that provides the data used in Arizona Indicators is “doctorate-granting institutions/full-time graduate enrollment/institutional rankings/by graduate enrollment.” For the postdoctorate data, the path is “doctorate-granting institutions/postdoctoral appointees/institutions ranked by number of appointees.” The annual data are released approximately 30 months after the end of a year.
Population estimates as of July 1 are released by the U. S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, each December: http://www.census.gov/popest/states/states.html.
Data Quality Comments:
For both the graduate students and postdoctorates time series, the Arizona total is the sum of the University of Arizona, Arizona State University’s main campus, and Northern Arizona University—ASU’s other campuses are not reported. A change in methodology occurred in 2007 for the graduate student series, with the figures reported for both the old and new methodologies in that year. Revised data for postdoctorates by state are not published.
Local production of highly educated individuals does not equate to the local retention of this talented human capital.
Population is estimated. The Census Bureau has not yet incorporated the 2010 census count into the estimates for 2000 through 2010. An interim estimate series is included for Arizona.
Number in Science, Engineering and Health Fields Per 1 Million Residents
Visualization Notes:
*Methodolgy for calculating the total number of graduate students changed in 2007
Per capita in the mid-1990s, Arizona had nearly as many graduate students in science, engineering and health fields as the national average. After that, the Arizona figure trended down through 2005 while the national per capita number began to rise after 2000, leading to Arizona’s per capita figure falling to 26 percent less than the national average in 2005. The latest data for 2008 show Arizona’s figure to be 19 percent less than the national average.
Per capita, Arizona has consistently had fewer postdoctorates in science, engineering and health fields than the national average. However, Arizona’s per capita number dropped between 1998 and 2005 while the national figure rose, causing the differential to grow to 51 percent less than the national average in 2005. The latest data for 2008 show Arizona’s figure to be 47 percent less than the national average.
Data Source
National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Science Resources Statistics, Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering: http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/gradpostdoc. For the graduate student data, the path to the table that provides the data used in Arizona Indicators is “doctorate-granting institutions/full-time graduate enrollment/institutional rankings/by graduate enrollment.” For the postdoctorate data, the path is “doctorate-granting institutions/postdoctoral appointees/institutions ranked by number of appointees.” The annual data are released approximately 30 months after the end of a year.
Population estimates as of July 1 are released by the U. S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, each December: http://www.census.gov/popest/states/states.html.
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