2019 STEM Postdocs
Highlights: Academic Careers
More than half of STEM postdocs remain in academia; one-third enter the for-profit sector.
Of those remaining in academia, 37% procure a tenure-track faculty appointment; 25% enter another postdoc.
- Academia: 58%
- For Profit: 32%
- Government: 3%
- Nonprofit: 7%
- Teaching Staff: 6
- Research/Technical Staff or Director: 21
- Program/Grant Management: 4
- Postdoctoral: 34
- Other: 1
- Further Education or Training: 6
- Faculty: Tenure Track Unclear: 2
- Faculty: Tenure Track: 52
- Faculty: Non-Tenure Track: 13
Highlights: Non-Academic Careers
- More than half of STEM postdocs going to industry move into research or technical positions. Common job titles include:
- Scientist
- Senior Scientist
- Scientist I
- Research Scientist
- The above are followed by Data science & analytics (7%); Non-academic postdoc positions (6%), and Clinical research mgmt/services (5%).
Top 10 Non-Academic Employers
- Bristol Myers Squibb
- GSK
- KBI Biopharma
- AbbVie
- BD
- Eva Garland Consulting
- LabCorp
- RTI International
- Vertex Pharmaceuticals
- Nuventra Pharma Sciences
- Scientific & Technical Consulting: 9
- Other: 6
- Technology & Information Science: 6
- Nonprofit Research & Development: 16
- Manufacturing: 2
- Healthcare: 6
- Government Affairs: 2
- Diagnostic & Research: 4
- Biotech/Pharma: 48
- Agriculture: 3
- Other: 3
- Intellectual Property/Law: 1
- Technical Support: 2
- Science Policy: 1
- Science Outreach & Education: 2
- Product Development: 2
- Grant Writer: 2
- Business Dev./Entrepreneurship: 2
- Regulatory Affairs: 3
- Project/Operations Manager: 3
- Healthcare Provider: 3
- Science Writing and Comm.: 4
- Data Science & Analytics: 7
- Postdoctoral: 6
- Clinical Research Mgmt/Services: 5
- Research Scientist/Scientist, etc.: 56
Notes:
These data represent the career outcomes of UNC postdocs in the STEM disciplines who exited UNC between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019.
We collected the career outcomes from 264 of the 359 postdocs who exited UNC (74%). Of those 264 postdocs, 241 were STEM (91%).
We used various sources to collect the outcome data, including the Postdoc Exit Survey, online searches, LinkedIn profiles, and direct correspondence with former postdocs.
