The National Science Foundation's latest report on doctoral-degree attainment shows that a smaller percentage of new Ph.D. recipients have firm commitments for jobs or postdoctoral positions than in previous years. Below are the percentages for selected years for students from all fields and then broken down by discipline.
Note: "Life sciences" includes agricultural sciences and natural resources, biological and biomedical sciences, and health sciences; "physical sciences" includes mathematics and computer and information sciences; and "social sciences" includes psychology. "Other" includes nonscience and engineering fields not shown separately. Figures are based on the number responding to the survey item on postgraduation commitment.