We have launched a data and analysis workstream to fill the gaps in our understanding of the state of the biomedical research workforce as related to DEIA issues and to tie these findings to potential policy and program interventions, with a particular focus on the biomedical research workforce within academic medicine.
Our Work
Our data and analysis efforts aim to expand the existing knowledge on the current state of and trends in the biomedical research workforce. To achieve these aims, we have undertaken four distinct analysis efforts:
- Analysis of the 2022 National Sample Survey of Physicians (NSSP) to estimate the prevalence of and characteristics of physicians engaged in research and to better understand the characteristics of physicians engaged in research.
- Survey of member institutions on the data they collect on their biomedical PhD students (ongoing). This project aims to understand what data are collected on biomedical PhD students, the methods and software employed to collect these data, the data gaps that exist, and the constraints preventing institutions from collecting data of interest.
- An interview-based qualitative study on the experiences of early career biomedical scientists from diverse backgrounds(ongoing). This project aims to identify the common challenges encountered by biomedical postdoctoral scholars and early career faculty and the supportive factors that have enabled their success during their training and faculty transition.
- Analysis of a merged dataset of AAMC faculty data and National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards data, which includes data from 1970-present. The goal of this project is to better understand trends in NIH funding within academic medicine, with a particular emphasis on gender and racial representation among NIH-funded faculty over time.
Research briefs, reports, and data tables will be added on an ongoing basis below.
National Sample Survey of Physicians Data Analysis and Research Brief
The AAMC has fielded two waves of the National Sample Survey of Physicians (NSSP), in 2019 and 2022, which include data on a comprehensive set of topics including physician research engagement. We drew on the 2022 data to describe the demographic characteristics and work experiences of physician scientists (MDs and DOs who are actively engaged in research, regardless of other degrees) and to compare the characteristics and experiences of this subgroup of physicians to their peers who are not engaged in research. Figure 1, below, illustrates the extent to which physicians were engaged in research in 2022. Overall, 14% of physicians were involved in research. Physicians with an academic affiliation and physicians who had earned a PhD in addition to their medical degree were engaged in research at higher rates than their nonacademic and non-PhD peers, respectively. Our complete findings can be accessed in the research brief below:
Survey on Data Collected on Biomedical PhD Students
We fielded a survey between February and May 2024 among member institutions on the data they collect on their biomedical PhD students. Respondents reported on the types of data they did and did not collect, the specific demographic fields collected, methods and software used to collect data, and the constraints they encountered to collecting data. We received 44 complete responses (and 58 total responses). We also received links to 20 data dashboards and publicly available data reports form respondents. The findings of this survey will be shared at the poster reception of the 2024 GREAT annual meeting and made available on this page. The findings are being used to inform ongoing projects that aim to connect data professionals with one another to share information and resources and to provide guidance to data professionals on issues related to data collection.
Related Resources
We conducted an in-depth scoping review of available data resources and existing research on the biomedical workforce, compiling our findings into a comprehensive resource (coming soon). Key data sources include:
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Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates in Science and Engineering. Annual census (since 1972) of total number of master’s and doctoral students, postdocs, and doctorate-holding nonfaculty researchers in science, engineering, and select health fields at U.S. academic institutions.
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Survey of Doctorate Recipients. Biennial survey (since 1973) that provides demographic, education, and career history data on individuals with a doctoral degree in a science, engineering, or health field from a U.S.-based institution. Respondents are sampled from the Survey of Earned Doctorates annual census.
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Early Career Doctorates Survey. Survey of recent doctorate recipients that includes data on their demographics, work experiences, and career paths. Fielded in 2015 and 2017.
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NIH RePORTER/ExPORTER. Comprehensive database of NIH-funded research projects (1985-2022).