Chapter 3: Science & Engineering Indicators 93

Employment of Scientists

Between 1985 and 1991, the number of scientists employed by the Federal Government increased about 16 percent. Most of this growth was fueled by a 32-percent increase in the employment of computer scientists. By 1991, this group outnumbered all other S& E occupational groups, accounting for 53,000 federally employed scientists. Half these computer scientists were employed by DOD. The Treasury Department had the second highest number (5,300). Employment of computer scientists by this agency increased 83 percent between 1985 and 1991.

Life scientists are the second most prevalent S& E group within the federal workforce. Three out of five of the more than 37,000 scientists classified in this occupational group in 1991 were employed by the Agriculture Department. The Interior Department had the second highest number (5,700), followed by Health and Human Services (3,300). The latter had a 46-percent gain over the number reported in 1985. There was an across-the-board increase in Health and Human Services programs during the late 1980s; a substantial part of the growth in employment of life scientists is probably attributable to increased funding for the National Institutes of Health's health research on AIDS and other diseases. (See chapter 4.)

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