Like many workers in the United States, physics and astronomy faculty members' careers and work situations have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. During the spring semester of 2021, AIP's Statistical Research Center surveyed a sample of faculty members regarding their experiences during the pandemic, and this Focus On outlines how faculty…

The majority (67%) of degree-granting physics departments in the United States grant a bachelor's degree as their highest degree. There are 84 departments that grant astronomy bachelor's degrees. Of these departments, 39 are separate, stand-alone astronomy departments, and 45 are in departments that award both astronomy and physics degrees. The…

Astronomy PhD recipients generally follow three main outcomes after receiving their degrees: they accept a postdoctoral position, a non-postdoctoral temporary position, or a potentially permanent position. To learn more about these outcomes, AIP annually asked new astronomy PhDs about their immediate post-degree outcomes. For the classes of 2018,…

The trend data detailed in this "Focus On" includes doctorates from the class of 2019. It presents data on the number of physics PhDs awarded in the U.S. including data on citizenship, women, and PhDs from underrepresented groups. It also includes data on educational background, time to degree, subfield of dissertation, and general…

In any academic department, faculty members retire or leave for a variety of reasons, and new faculty members are hired to replace departing faculty or fill newly created positions. This report focuses on departures, retirements, recruitments, and new hires in physics and astronomy departments. In our Academic Workforce Surveys, we collect the…

The number of both astronomy bachelor's degrees and PhDs awarded in the class of 2016 represent all-time highs. Astronomy bachelors have been increasing steadily for the last 15 years, with 469 degrees awarded in the class of 2016. With undergraduate astronomy enrollments continuing to grow, the trend is expected to continue for at least the next…

This report provides data on the size of degree-granting physics and astronomy departments by examining the number of bachelor's degrees awarded and the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) faculty members employed. The benchmarking data in this report is intended to allow physics and astronomy departments to see how they fit in the national…

Undergraduate astronomy enrollments in the US continue to rise with junior and senior level enrollments exceeding the previous year's all-time high. The increasing undergraduate enrollments have produced 428 bachelor's in the 2013-14 academic year, also an all-time high. Undergraduate astronomy degree production will continue to rise given the…

Physics bachelor's degree production has more than doubled since the recent low in 1999 and total enrollments in US undergraduate physics programs continue to increase. The all-time high of 7,526 bachelor's degrees in the class of 2014 represents the 15th consecutive year that the number of physics bachelor's conferred has increased. First-year…