Chapter 3: Science & Engineering Indicators 93

Employment of Doctoral Scientists and Engineers

Employment by Sector

In 1991, approximately 367,400 doctoral scientists and 69,800 doctoral engineers were employed in the United States. (See appendix table 3-14.) About half the scientists were employed at educational institutions; nearly one-third were employed by industry. (See figure 3-11.) During the past two decades, employment of doctoral scientists has been shifting from the academic to the industrial sector.(Click here for footnote 17.) A similar trend occurred among doctorate-holding engineers. The proportion of these engineers employed at colleges and universities declined during the late 1970s and 1980s; concurrently, the share employed in industry increased (NSB 1991). In 1991, one-third of employed doctoral engineers worked at academic institutions; a much higher proportion--57 percent--worked in industry.

Footnote 17:

Unpublished tabulations from the American Institute of Physics' 1989 Society Membership Sample Survey show that fewer than a quarter of the physicists who received their doctorates before 1969 work in industry. In contrast, over 40 percent of those who received their degrees between 1987 and 1989 are employed in industry. The comparable proportions for university employment were 47 percent and 28 percent, respectively. (These data do not include postdoctoral scientists.)

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