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INTRODUCTION The majority of doctoral scientists traditionally have been employed in colleges and universities, although with considerable variation by field. Since academic opportunities have shrunk in the last few years and are expected to decline more steeply in the next decade, a predictably strong interest in industrial and government employment has emerged. The extent to which these sectors will absorb a growing share of the Ph.D. population is not clear, however. This issue is particularly relevant to employment prospects for women scientists. In the past decade the number of women who annually earn doctorates in the sciences has tripled, while overall Ph.D. production peaked in 1973 and has declined slowly since then. In addition, significantly greater proportions of women scientists than of men have relied historically on the academic job market, although they have characteristically been employed in untenured positions and in the lowest ranks.1 The rapid increase in the pool of highly trained women scientists has coincided with not only a decline in faculty openings, as noted above, but also with two other important developments: the emergence of affirmative action regulations and a change in social attitudes about the role of women. The combination of these events might be expected to result in an increased number of women in industry and government and improved opportunities for career advancement. This leads to an important set of questions. To what extent are women scientists in fact moving into these areas? Which industries or federal agencies are hiring increasing proportions of women scientists? Do job functions differ by sex? Are women being promoted to management positions as frequently as men with the same training? Are salary differences narrowing? About the report This report to the Office of Science and Technology Policy presents data on the status of women scientists and engineers in private industry (Part 1) and the federal government (Part 2). In particular, it examines the extent to which their employment situation has improved in the 1970's. The Committee's findings with respect to women scientists in industry 1 Committee on the Education and Employment of Women in Science and Engineering, Commission on Human Resources, National Research Council, Climbing the Academic Ladder: Doctoral Women Scientists in Academe (Washington, D,C.) National Academy of Sciences, 1979).
constitute an interim report to be followed by a more intensive study of recruitment and hiring patterns. The scientists under discussion are those trained in the natural sciences, social sciences, and engineering. The report primarily concerns Ph.D.s in these fields although some analyses of bachelor's and master's degree recipients appear in Part 2. Individuals with professional degrees in medicine, law, etc., are not included. Men and women will be compared in terms of employers, starting salaries, job functions, promotions, and other variables. Changes over the 1970's in male/female differences may indicate the impact of affirmative action programs and shifting social attitudes. Because of this focus, much of the discussion will be directed to employment patterns of recent Ph.D.s, for whom relative improvement would be expected to occur first. The sources of data for the report are described in the box on the opposite page.
Primary Data Sources and Their Scope Source Survey of Doctorate Recipients, National Research Council A survey conducted biennially since 1973 that includes a sample of abgut 65,000 scientists and engineers who earned Ph.D.s during the period 1934-1976. The sample is carefully stratified by sex, field, and other variables and the survey responses weighted so as to estimate population figures. The questionnaire used for the 1977 survey is shown in Appendix A. Survey of Earned Doctorates, National Research Council Scope of the Data Estimates from the survey are sub- ject to possible error due to sampling variability. Sampling errors, which provide a measure of precision or confidence, have been computed for most statistics in the report. A fuller treatment of the subject is provided in Appendix B. A virtually 100 percent survey of individuals receiving doctorates from U.S. institutions. Through the cooperation of graduate deans, information is collected at the time of receipt of the Ph.D. on educational background and future plans. Central Personnel Data File, Office of Personnel Management A computerized file of employment data on all federal personnel. By special request, a tape extract was obtained, containing 1974 and 1978 information on the population of science and engineering degree recipients employed by federal agencies. A more detailed descrip- tion of the population is provided in Appendix C. The survey does not include persons with professional degrees in medi- cine or law. Information on employment plans at the time of receiving the Ph.D. is 95 percent complete. The data do not include persons employed by the various intelli- gence and security agencies and persons in ungraded positions. The analyses are limited to 1974 and 1978 comparisons, since 1974 was the first year that information on level and field of education was routinely collected. Most items of information reported here were 100 percent complete.
