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Assessing the Landscape of U.S. Postdoctoral Salaries

View ORCID ProfileRodoniki Athanasiadou, View ORCID ProfileAdriana Bankston, McKenzie Carlisle, Carrie Niziolek, Gary McDowell
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/227694
Rodoniki Athanasiadou
aThe Future of Research, 848 Brockton Avenue, Abington, MA 02351
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  • ORCID record for Rodoniki Athanasiadou
Adriana Bankston
aThe Future of Research, 848 Brockton Avenue, Abington, MA 02351
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  • ORCID record for Adriana Bankston
McKenzie Carlisle
aThe Future of Research, 848 Brockton Avenue, Abington, MA 02351
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Carrie Niziolek
aThe Future of Research, 848 Brockton Avenue, Abington, MA 02351
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Gary McDowell
aThe Future of Research, 848 Brockton Avenue, Abington, MA 02351
bManylabs, 1086 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
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  • For correspondence: garymcdow@gmail.com
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Abstract

Purpose Postdocs make up a significant portion of the biomedical workforce. However, data about the postdoctoral position are generally scarce, including salary data. The purpose of this study was to request, obtain and interpret actual salaries, and the associated job titles, for postdocs at U.S. public institutions.

Methodology Freedom of Information Act Requests were submitted to U.S. public institutions estimated to have at least 300 postdocs according to the National Science Foundation’s Survey of Graduate Students and Postdocs. Salaries and job titles of postdoctoral employees as of December 1st, 2016 were requested.

Findings Salaries and job titles for over 13,000 postdocs at 52 public U.S. institutions and 1 private institution around the date of December 1st, 2016 were received, and individual postdoc names were also received for approximately 7,000 postdocs. This study shows evidence of gender-related salary discrepancies, a significant influence of job title description on postdoc salary, and a complex relationship between salaries and the level of institutional NIH funding.

Value These results provide insights into the ability of institutions to collate actual payroll-type data related to their postdocs, highlighting difficulties faced in tracking, and reporting data on this population. Ultimately, these types of efforts, aimed at increasing transparency, may lead to improved tracking and support for postdocs at all U.S. institutions.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
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Posted December 03, 2017.
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Assessing the Landscape of U.S. Postdoctoral Salaries
Rodoniki Athanasiadou, Adriana Bankston, McKenzie Carlisle, Carrie Niziolek, Gary McDowell
bioRxiv 227694; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/227694
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Assessing the Landscape of U.S. Postdoctoral Salaries
Rodoniki Athanasiadou, Adriana Bankston, McKenzie Carlisle, Carrie Niziolek, Gary McDowell
bioRxiv 227694; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/227694

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