Stage 1: Frame Creation - High Authority

EARLY CAREER
DOCTORATES SURVEY
For additional information contact:
Peter B. Einaudi, Project Manager

The success of recent doctorate
recipients is critical to the success of
the U.S. scientific enterprise and will
influence U.S. and global scientific
markets for years to come.

RTI International
3040 Cornwallis Road
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 1-800-848-4075

Kelly S. Phou, Project Officer
National Center for Science and Engineering
Statistics
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 965
Arlington, VA 22230
E-mail: [email protected]

Visit us at:
www.earlycareerdoctoratessurvey.org

Early Career
DoctorateS SURVEY

What topics does the survey cover?
Educational
history

Degrees earned—dates
awarded, fields of study, and
institutions

Professional
activities and
achievements

Conference attendance
Publications and
presentations
Professional service
Grants experiences
Patents

About the Survey
The Early Career Doctorates Survey is a survey of
individuals who earned their first doctoral degree
(PhD, MD, or equivalent) within the last 10 years and
are currently working in one of the following areas of
employment:
• U.S. academic institutions
• Federally funded research and development centers
(FFRDCs)
• Intramural research program of the National Institutes
of Health (NIH)
The work and professional development of recent
doctorate recipients will influence innovation in U.S. and
global markets for years to come. Despite the critical
importance of this population to the success of the U.S.
science and engineering enterprise, comprehensive
surveys of this group are limited, and the data needed to
understand their work patterns and contributions to the
U.S. economy are sparse.
To address this need, the National Center for Science and
Engineering Statistics (NCSES) at the National Science
Foundation developed the Early Career Doctorates
Project to gather in-depth information about postdoctoral
appointees (postdocs) and other recent doctorate recipients
during the first 10 years of their working careers.

Employer
characteristics

Type of employer

Professional
and personal
life balance

Typical workload

Mentoring,
training, and
research
opportunities
Career paths
and plans

Type of work
Flexibility in scheduling
work
Work relationships

This letter will be sent to nonrespondents late in the data
collection period to urge them to complete the survey.

What kind of information is needed for the
contact database?
In addition to each early career doctorate’s name and
contact information, the coordinator will be asked to
provide data such as each early career doctorate’s highest
degree held, year of degree, job title, department, field
of research, gender, year of birth, and citizenship. These
fields will improve our ability to achieve a representative
sample of early career doctorates.

To minimize the burden of gathering these data, NCSES
is requesting only data available within your institution’s
administrative databases. NCSES estimates that it will
take your designee 6–8 hours to develop and submit the
contact database.

Work expectation
Training
Research opportunities
Plans over the next
10 years

How did you select my institution?
Your institution is one of 201 institutions and FFRDCs
selected to participate in this survey through scientific
sampling methodology.

What does my participation involve?
NCSES is asking that you designate a coordinator who
will work with RTI International (the survey contractor) to
develop a contact database of all early career doctorates
working at your institution. This database will serve as
the frame from which 40 prospective respondents will
be selected to participate in the survey. You (or your
designee) will also be asked to use a semi-automated
system to send a survey notification e-mail to each
participant and to return a letter of support for the survey.

How will our employees’ privacy be protected?
Protecting respondent privacy is a priority for NCSES and
RTI International. The following steps ensure that your
employees’ privacy and confidentiality are protected:
• The survey data will be used for statistical purposes only
and will be safeguarded in accordance with the National
Science Foundation Act of 1950, as amended, and the
Confidentiality Information Protection and Statistical
Efficiency Act of 2002.
• All data will be collected using secure data transfer
protocols and maintained within encrypted databases.
• Each respondent will be given unique credentials
(username and password), and the survey will be
conducted over a secure internet connection (https).
• All survey staff will complete a confidentiality training
and sign an affidavit of nondisclosure before being able
to work on the survey.
• Prior to publication, data will be aggregated in ways that
prevent the identification of individual respondents.