median age of faculty for several science and 

 engineering fields are presented in the table 

 below. 



Median ages of science and engineering 



faculty in doctorate-granting universities 



and colleges, 1969 and 19731'' 



Field 



1969 



1973 



All science and engineering fields ... 41 44 



Biological sciences 43 46 



Chemistry 39 43 



Earth sciences 40 43 



Engineering 41 47 



Mathematics 37 39 



Physics 39 43 



Psychology 39 43 



Social sciences 39 43 



'" National Science Foundation and American Council on 

 Education, special tabulations. 



Figure 5-8 



Tenured faculty as a percent of all faculty 

 in doctorate-level science and engineering 

 departments, by field, 1974 



(Percent) 

 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 



SOURCE: National Science Foundation. 



It should be noted that age distributions 

 among academic science and engineering doc- 

 torate faculties do not differ greatly from those 

 for doctoral scientists and engineers in other 

 employment sectors (figure 5-9). While the older 

 age pattern displayed by science and engineering 

 faculty is related to the decreasing number of 

 new faculty appointments, the relatively small 

 proportion of employed doctorates under the 

 age of 30 may be accounted for in part by the 

 time required to attain a doctorate. In recent 

 years, the median time-lapse between the 



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