The rest were undecided. Senior scientists who want to continue working are often prohibited from doing so, while, overall, colleges and universities aren't producing enough scientists to meet the country's needs. Research shows that all scientific disciplines have suffered a significant decrease in the influx of new talent over the past 10 years or so. While the total number of employed scientists is growing, it's not growing fast enough to support the nation's expanding need for academic and industrial scientists. Some say a solution to this deficit is the creation of viable employment and research opportunities for older investigators who are able and willing to continue working.
Anecdotal evidence indicates that few opportunities now exist.
Ongoing research includes numerous university-based studies concerning the relationship between age and scientific research performance. The National Academy of Sciences is currently investigating the ways in which eliminating mandatory retirement for science professors might affect science education. To date, however, no one set of conclusions has been reached or has become widely accepted. In the meantime, many senior scientists maintain that they are being prematurely put out to pasture despite both a desire and the physical and mental wherewithal to continue their work. In industry, for example, it's not unusual for the best and brightest scientists to make their way to the executive level, where they are then held hostage to retirement laws.