Dec 14 -- The National Science Foundation's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES) invites comment to OMB on the 2023 National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) by January 13, 2023.
NCSES serves as a central Federal clearinghouse for the collection, interpretation, analysis, and dissemination of objective data on science, engineering, technology, and research and development for use by practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and the public.
The National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG) has been conducted biennially since the 1970s. The 2023 NSCG sample will be selected from the 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2021 NSCG, providing coverage of the college graduate population residing in the United States. The purpose of this repeated cross-sectional survey is to collect data that will be used to provide national estimates on the science and engineering workforce and changes in their employment, education, and demographic characteristics.
The NSCG is a repeated cross-sectional survey conducted to provide data on the nation’s college graduates, particularly those in the S&E workforce. The NSCG samples individuals who are living in the United States, have at least a bachelor’s degree, and are less than 76 years of age. As of 2017, the NSCG fully implemented a four-panel rotating panel design, in which every new panel receives a baseline questionnaire, followed by three biennial follow-up questionnaires before rotating out of the survey. Sample members are invited to complete the NSCG questionnaire online, on paper, or by phone.
The National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as subsequently amended, includes a statutory charge to “. . . provide a central clearinghouse for the collection, interpretation, and analysis of data on scientific and engineering resources, and to provide a source of information for policy formulation by other agencies of the Federal Government.” The NSCG is designed to comply with these mandates by providing information on the supply and utilization of the nation's scientists and engineers.
The NSCG is a unique source for examining various characteristics of college-educated individuals, including occupation, work activities, salary, the relationship of degree field to occupation, and demographic information. This survey provides information on individuals residing in the United States with at least a bachelor’s degree, including those who received degrees only from foreign institutions. NSF uses the information from the NSCG to prepare congressionally mandated reports such as Women, Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering and Science and Engineering Indicators. A public release file of collected data, designed to protect respondent confidentiality, will be made available to researchers on the internet.
The U.S. Census Bureau, as in the past, will conduct the NSCG for NSF. The survey data collection will begin in March 2023 using web and mail questionnaires. Nonrespondents to the web or mail questionnaire will be followed up by computer-assisted telephone interviewing. The individual's response to the survey is voluntary. The survey will be conducted in conformance with Census Bureau statistical quality standards and, as such, the NSCG data will be afforded protection under the applicable Census Bureau confidentiality statutes.
A statistical sample of approximately 166,000 persons will be contacted in 2023. NSF estimates the 2023 NSCG response rate to be 65 to 75 percent.
For the 2023 NSCG, the following modifications will be implemented:
1. The production sample size will decrease slightly from 164,000 to approximately 161,000 as a result of the change in the sample allocation formula to account for sample attrition.
2. The NSCG questionnaire will include the following revisions:
a. Most of the items that were modified for the 2021 NSCG to understand the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on NSCG measures will be returned to their form in the 2019 NSCG, prior to the pandemic.
b. The question about telework opportunities that was added to the 2021 NSCG in light of the pandemic will be modified to collect information about remote work in general.
c. The item that asks for a respondent’s race will be modified to collect subgroup information for the “Asian” and “Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander” categories.
d. The item that asks for a respondent’s sex will be revised into two questions to collect gender identity information.
e. Based on an evaluation and cognitive interviews conducted by Census Bureau methodologists, some NSCG questionnaire items will be revised to provide greater clarity to respondents to reduce burden and increase data quality.
f. The taxonomies of occupation and fields of study will be updated.
3. Three methodological experiments will be incorporated to investigate the effects of incentives, text messaging, and QR codes on response.
NSCG website:
https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvygrads/ (with information on 2019 NSCG)
NCSES submission to OMB:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202212-3145-001 Click on IC List for questionnaire, View Supporting Statement for technical documentation. Submit comments through this site.
FR notice inviting public comment:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2022-27035
For AEA members wishing to submit comments, "A Primer on How to Respond to Calls for Comment on Federal Data Collections" is available at
https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=5806