Postdoctoral appointments can have different functions and meanings, depending on the field and whether the postdoc is a man or a woman. This papers summarizes the findings from the Ph.D.s—Ten Years Later survey for biochemists and mathematicians.
Nerad, M. & Cerny, J. (1999). Postdoctoral Patterns, Career Advancement, and Problems, Science, Vol. 285, pp. 1533-1535
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