Science and Engineering Personnel 



INDICATOR HIGHLIGHTS 



D The total number of scientists and engineers 

 employed in these occupations in 1974 was 

 approximately 1.7 million, which is nearly 

 the same as in 1970, with engineers 

 representing nearly two-thirds of the total. 



D The number of scientists and engineers with 

 doctorates reached approximately 245,000 

 in 1973, representing almost 15 percent of 

 all scientists and engineers; life and physical 

 scientists each accounted for one-fourth of 

 the doctoral total. 



D The majority of doctoral scientists in 1973 

 were employed in educational institutions 

 (64 percent), and primarily engaged in 

 teaching, while doctoral engineers tended to 

 be concentrated in business and industry (49 

 percent) and were primarily involved in 

 R&D. 



D Employment of scientists and engineers in 

 universities and colleges increased between 

 1965 and 1974 by more than 60 percent, 

 with most of the growth occurring prior to 

 1972; the largest increases in employment 

 occurred for life and social scientists, 

 bringing the total number of scientists and 

 engineers employed in higher education to 

 just over 288,000 in 1974. 



D In recent years the proportion of young 

 doctoral faculty in doctorate-level science 

 and engineering departments has declined 

 from approximately 42 percent in 1968 to 

 some 28 percent in 1974; concurrently, 

 median ages have increased from 41 to 44 

 years, and the proportion of faculty with 

 tenure has risen from 47 percent to 65 

 percent. 



D The largest number of the Nation's scien- 

 tists and engineers were employed in 

 industry, with engineers accounting for 

 nearly 80 percent of the total in 1974; 

 approximately 25 percent of the engineers 

 were involved in R&D and its management, 

 compared with some 35 percent of the 

 industrial scientists. 



D The Federal Government supported less 

 than one-fourth of all industrial scientists 

 and engineers in 1974, down from nearly 30 

 percent in 1972; most of the support was 

 provided by DOD and NASA which 

 together accounted for nearly 70 percent of 

 all such Federal support. 



D The number of scientists and engineers 

 employed by the Federal Government 

 declined in 1973 for the first time since the 

 1950's; employment in this sector comprised 

 10 percent of all employed scientists and 

 engineers in 1973, with some 30 percent of 

 the Federal total involved in R&D. 



D The total number of scientists and engineers 

 engaged in R&D (on a full-time equivalent 

 basis) was 530,000 in 1974, down by more 

 than 30,000 from the high in 1969; 68 

 percent of the total were employed in 

 industry, 13 percent in the academic sector, 

 and 12 percent in the Federal Government. 



D Approximately 40 percent of all doctoral 

 scientists and engineers were involved in 

 R&D in 1973; in universities, physical and 

 life scientists comprised the majority of 

 doctorates who were involved primarily in 

 basic and applied research; in the industrial 

 sector, most doctorates were engineers 

 working on development-related activities. 



D The number of R&D scientists and 

 engineers in industry increased in 1973 and 

 1974, reaching almost 360,000 (on a full- 

 time equivalent basis) but nearly 7 percent 

 less than the number employed in the peak 

 year of 1969; the decline occurred primarily 

 in the aircraft and missiles industry, and was 

 confined mainly to those scientists and 

 engineers supported by Federal funds. 



n Academic R&D was conducted by 67,000 

 scientists and engineers (on a full-time 

 equivalent basis) in 1973, and was heavily 

 focused on research (basic and applied). Of 

 all the doctoral faculty involved in R&D, the 

 proportion of young investigators decreased 



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