The number of academics and graduate students in the world

Abstract

This note estimates the global number of faculty members and graduate students in the world by applying data from the US to the global context. The author calculates there are roughly 17 million faculty members and graduate students worldwide: 6 million faculty members and 11 million graduate students. These estimates are based on data from the US National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Engineering Indicators report and the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The author’s methodology relies on the assumption that the US represents 25% of global research and faculty members, and 22% of US graduate students are in the field of science and engineering. Finally, the author also calculates the global size of the science and engineering workforce, finding it to be 51.6 million individuals, with 6.8 million working as teaching personnel at universities and the remaining 44.8 million working in the private sector. – AI-generated abstract