Survey of postdoctoral affairs infrastructure at U.S. R1 and R2 institutions

Introduction: The number of postdoctoral scholars working at academic institutions in the United States (U.S.) has grown consistently over the past 40 years, driving calls for better infrastructure to support their specific needs. In response, some institutions have built postdoctoral affairs offices that serve as clearinghouses for information, foster improved mentorship between postdoctoral scholars and their supervisors, and provide training opportunities that contribute to professional development. We assessed postdoctoral affairs infrastructure and the associated training opportunities currently offered at the largest academic institutions within the United States as of spring 2022.

Methods: To carry out this survey, we compiled a list of all R1 and R2 institutions in 2021 as determined by the Carnegie classification system. We first placed any institution classified as an R1 or an R2 into one of four categories, based on the information publicly available on each institution’s website:

1. Institution has a clear “Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA),” or similar infrastructure that is run by the institution. This may include joint offices for graduate and postdoctoral affairs when it is clear that the distinct needs of postdocs are recognized.
2. Institution has a “Postdoctoral Association (PDA)” that is run by current postdocs on a voluntary basis. Funding may be provided by the institution.
3. Institution has a postdoc landing webpage, such as a list of links or online resources, but has no clear OPA or PDA.
4. Institution has no postdoc landing webpage.

There were several instances where a combination of categories 1, 2, and 3 were evident. In some cases, schools/colleges within an institution (e.g., medical school) had resources for their postdocs, but these were not clearly available for all postdoctoral scholars at the institution and thus were not considered for these purposes.

For each institution classified as 1, 2, 3 or a combination thereof, we categorically assessed (Yes/No) whether or not postdocs were offered any postdoc-specific, in-house training by their OPA or PDA by searching the postdoctoral affairs website. We defined “in-house training” as any event that was led or organized by, or otherwise originated in the host institution. We did not include events run by national organizations such as the National Postdoc Association (NPA), or National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD), as we considered these to be separate. While there are areas in which the needs of graduate students and postdocs overlap, for this study we identified postdoc-specific training as events that were clearly and intentionally aimed at postdocs (i.e., were not events combining postdocs with graduate students, faculty and staff, or the wider university community). For those institutions that offered in-house postdoc training, we then categorized each training opportunity or event into one of seven broad themes:

1. Research skills (e.g., data management, grant writing)
2. Teaching skills (e.g., pedagogy, curriculum development)
3. Professional skills (e.g., leadership, mentorship, project management)
4. Job market preparation (e.g., preparing job application materials, career talks from academia and industry)
5. Institutional onboarding (e.g., orientations, library information sessions)
6. Mental health and wellness (e.g., work-life balance)
7. Diversity, equity and inclusion (e.g., understanding the value of diversity in the workplace)

To standardize data and align with the R1 & R2 2021 Carnegie classification update, we limited our search of postdoc training opportunities to the 2021 calendar year. We did not include every training opportunity within the full calendar year; once we had found an event to fit each of the seven categories, we ended our search for that individual institution. In cases where the events calendar was blank, restricted to current or future events (2022), or located behind an institutional login page, we attempted to locate other publicly available sources of information. Nevertheless, we have likely captured all of the institutions that do actually have training opportunities. After completing the categorization of events, we also summed the total number of different postdoctoral training opportunity themes addressed by the institution.

Acknowledgements: This survey was supported by the Grand Challenges Initiative at Chapman University.