Again, data have to be interpreted carefully and any bias resulting from a possible tendency for those in a favorable employment status to respond more readily to the survey than those who are not so fortunately situated cannot be quantified. However, with the revised survey questionnaire used this year, respondents could more readily and unambiguously report their employment situation. The employment data from the 1997 survey also quantify some very marked differences between chemistry and chemical engineering. They confirm that the chemical engineering bachelor's degree is accepted as a terminal, professional degree to a far greater extent than is the bachelor's degree in chemistry-a difference that is also borne out by the salary data. The higher level for 1997 could be related to the later timing of the survey.
Chemists are more likely than are chemical engineers to be in temporary or part-time jobs.
Doctoral chemists with full-time permanent jobs generally agreed, with averages hovering around 1.7, that their jobs were commensurate with their training, professionally challenging, and related to their field. They were less certain, with an average response of 2.6, that their jobs were similar to what they expected when they started their doctoral programs. Bachelor's chemists with full-time permanent jobs were apparently less enthusiastic. Their average response to the questions on their jobs being commensurate with their training, challenging, and related to their fields was a more lukewarm 2.2. Demographics Analysis of the 1997 data confirms the dramatic changes in the demographics of the class of new graduates entering the chemical community each year.