Research Doctorate Conferrals Rebound, Leading to Record Number of U.S. Doctorate Recipients in 2022

New data from the Survey of Earned Doctorates ( SED ) show an increase in doctoral degree awards for the 2022 academic year and the highest number of research doctorates ever conferred in a single academic year. This was preceded by declines in doctorate conferrals from spring 2020 through spring 2021 after the shutdown of most colleges and universities at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. A higher proportion of recent doctorate recipients reported definite postgraduation employment commitments than in prior years. The data also show a long-term decline of postgraduation employment commitments within the academic sector and an increase in employment commitments in the business sector. These data are from the 2022 SED, conducted by the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics within the National Science Foundation and cosponsored by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Education, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Source: NSF - Statistics on U.S. Science and Engineering Resources - Category: Statistics Source Type: news