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comp & math sci life & related sci phys & rel sci soc & rel sci engrg flds

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Science Resources Studies Division

DATA BRIEF Directorate for

Social, Behavioral

and Economic

Sciences

National Science Foundation Vol. 1995, No. 5, March 15, 1995

Electronic

Dissemination

You can get information quickly

through STIS (Science and

Technology Information System),

NSFs online publishing system,

described in NSF 94-4, the

STIS flyer. To get a paper copy

of the flyer, call the NSF

Publications Section at

703-306-1130. For an electronic

copy, send an e-mail message to

stisfly@nsf.gov (Internet). For

NSFs Telephonic Device for the

Deaf capability, dial

703-306-0090.

[In percent]

Chart 1. Employment status of doctoral scientists

and engineers, by broad field: 1993

For 1993, Doctoral Scientists & Engineers

Report 1.6 Percent Unemployment Rate

But 4.3 Percent Underemployment

I

nformation in this Data Brief is from the

1993 Survey of Doctorate Recipients,

conducted by the National Research Council

for the National Science Foundation. These

pages report on the 1993 employment status

of scientists and engineers (S&Es) who

have earned doctoral degrees from U.S.

universities and colleges.

In 1993 there were a little over half a

million doctoral S&Es in the United States.

Slightly less than one-tenth (8.4 percent)

were “not in the labor force,” i.e., not

employed and not seeking employment.

These S&Es would include, among others,

retirees below the age of 76 and persons

staying at home for family reasons. Employment status of doctoral scientists and

engineers in 1993 is shown below:

Total S&Es................................ 513,460

In labor force..................... 470,500

Working for pay or profit.... 462,870

Unemployment rate................... 1.6 %

Underemployment rate.............. 4.3 %

Unemployment

Of those doctoral S&Es available for work

in 1993, 98.4 percent were employed,

meaning that the unemployment rate for

doctoral S&Es in 1993 was 1.6 percent.

This rate compares with a 1993 unemployment rate for the total U.S. labor force of

nearly 7 percent.

Variations in rates of unemployment by

broad field of doctorate are detectable, but

the differences are small. (See chart 1.)

The highest rates of unemployment among

scientific disciplines are for geology and

oceanography (3.0 percent) and physics and

astronomy (2.3 percent). Among engineering fields, holders of doctorates in industrial

Unemployment Underemployment

SOURCE: NSF/SRS, 1993 Survey of Doctorate Recipients

engineering exhibit the highest unemployment

rate (2.9 percent). On the other hand, mechanical and civil engineers have unemployment rates of only 1.0 and 0.6 percent respectively.

Underemployment

These low unemployment rates among

doctoral S&Es do not necessarily mean that

those workers are all fully employed at work

of their own choosing. A rough measure of

this phenomenon is provided by the S&E

underemployment rate. This rate shows the

ratio to total employment of those who are

working part-time but are seeking full-time

jobs or who are working in a field outside

their doctoral degree because a job in their

doctoral degree field was not available.

The overall S&E underemployment rate stood

at 4.3 percent in 1993. Again, variations by

field are apparent, with the physical science

doctorates showing the highest rate (6.1

percent) of underemployment and the life

Computer

and

mathematical sciences

Life and

related

sciences

Physical

and related

sciences

Engineering

fields

Social

and related

sciences

by R. Keith

Wilkinson

The low rates of

unemployment

among doctoral S&Es

do not necessarily

mean that they are

all fully employed at

work of their own

choosing.
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scientists the lowest (3.5 percent).

These numbers tend to support the

widespread anecdotal discussions of

employment problems among doctoral physicists and geoscientists, but

they also put the problems into a

perspective of overall employment

and underemployment rates.

Employment Status of Young S&Es

A closer look at the employment

status of doctoral S&Es by the number of years since they earned their

degrees sheds light on the issue of

employment problems of young

S&Es.

Employment and Racial and

Ethnic Identity

Doctorate holders from racial and

ethnic minorities are more likely to be

employed full-time than their white

counterparts: 88.2 percent for Native

Americans, 90.6 percent for blacks,

and 91.4 percent for Asians and

Pacific Islanders, versus 83.3 percent

for whites. Minority group doctorate

holders are less likely than whites to

be employed part-time, and much less

likely to be retired but are somewhat

more likely to be unemployed but

seeking employment.

Because of changes in survey methodology, the employment data for 1993

are not directly comparable with

available data for prior years.

For more information contact R. Keith

Wilkinson (703) 306-1776, ext. 6921,

Science and Engineering Personnel

Program, Division of Science Resources Studies, National Science

Foundation, 4201 Wilson Boulevard,

Suite 965, Arlington, VA 22230. For a

free copy, write to the above address,

call 703-306-1773, or send e-mail to

srspubs@nsf.gov.

Recent Ph.D. graduates are the most

likely to be unemployed — 2.0

percent unemployment across all

fields. But this rate drops sharply to

1.4 percent for those who are from 3

to 8 years beyond their graduation.

Unemployment rates during the

working life of most S&Es remain

below the level of unemployment for

new graduates. Underemployment,

however, does rise to higher levels

than for new graduates among those

who have held their degrees more

than 10 years.

Employment and Gender

Female S&E doctorate holders (78.2

percent) are slightly less likely than

their male counterparts (85.9 percent)

to be employed full-time but much

more likely to be employed part-time

(men: 4.1 percent, women: 12.4

percent). Nearly identical percentages

of men (1.5 percent) and women (1.6

percent) reported themselves as

“unemployed but seeking employment.” Men (7.6 percent) were much

more likely than women (3.3 percent)

to be retired, but women (4.4 percent)

were much more likely than men (0.9

percent) to be “not employed, not

seeking employment.”

NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

ARLINGTON, VA 22230

[In percent]

Year of 

doctorate

Unemployment 

rate

Underemplo

rate

1991-92 2.0 4.5

1985-90 1.4 3.1

1980-84 1.5 4.6

1970-79 1.5 5.6

1960-69 1.7 3.4

Pre-1960 * *

KEY: * = (n) too small

Table 1. 1993 Employment status of

doctoral scientists and engineers,

 by year of graduation

SOURCE: NSF/SRS, 1993 Survey of Doctorate

Recipients