part-time. In late 1974, the unemployment level 

 for engineers alone was still only 1.9 percent. 



Unemployment rates express only a part of 

 the overall situation. The national unemploy- 

 ment rate, for example, is expressed in terms of 

 occupation last held. In some cases an individual 

 scientist or engineer may have previously taken 

 a nonscience or nonengineering job before 

 becoming unemployed and would therefore not 

 be reported as a scientist or engineer. Unemploy- 

 ment levels, furthermore, do not indicate the 

 extent of employment (part-time employment 

 may be involuntary) nor the degree of un- 

 derutilization in positions requiring lesser skills 

 than individuals possess. In addition, in most 

 instances it has not been possible to measure the 

 difficulty or the length of time required for 

 obtaining employment for scientists and 

 engineers who are first entering the job market 

 or for those who are changing jobs. 



SUPPLY OF SCIENTISTS 

 AND ENGINEERS 



Early student 

 engineering 



interest 



science 



and 



Information concerning occupational 

 preferences of college freshmen provides an 

 early indicator of student interest in science and 

 engineering. 3-' In recent years, interest has 

 decreased in the occupations of research scien- 

 tist, engineer, and educator, while increasing in 

 those of medical doctor, nurse, and non-M.D. 

 health professional (figure 5-17). 



A second indicator of early interest in science 

 and engineering is the choice of college majors by 

 National Merit Scholars as they enter college 

 (figure 5-18). The proportion of these students 

 planning to enter science and engineering 

 increased from 62 percent to 70 percent between 

 1966 and 1974. Between 1972 and 1974, 

 however, there was a decline of two percentage 

 points in the proportion of National Merit 

 Scholars choosing science as a major, while over 

 this same period, there was an increase of nearly 

 three percentage points in those planning to 

 major in engineering. 



The earliest information about undergraduate 

 enrollments by major field is obtainable in a 



Student's junior year. One study shows that 

 total junior-year undergraduate enrollment 

 increased by 3.2 percent in the fall of 1972 over 

 the fall of 1971. J-i The number of students 

 majoring in various science and engineering 

 fields increased about 4.5 percent. Life science 

 majors increased by more than 12 percent. Social 

 science majors increased about 6 percent, and in 

 the fall of 1972, they accounted for 47 percent of 

 the science and engineering majors. Fewer 

 students chose majors in engineering, 

 mathematical sciences, and physics, while small 

 increases occurred in chemistry and other 

 physical science majors in the fall of 1972. 



" The American freshman: National Norms, American Council 

 on Education and University of California, Los Angeles, 

 annual series. 



'■I J. E. Dutton and B. A. Blandford, Enrollment of Junior-Year 

 Students (1971 and 19721. (Washington, D.C.: American 

 Council on Education, 1973). 



132 



