Table 1. Stock of scientists and engineers:^ 1980 and 1985 or 1986 



'Nonacademic scientisis and engineers employed as scientists and engineers. See text lootnole 7 (p 6 ) lor an explanation of wtiy academics 



are excluded 



NOTE Because ot rounding, figures may not add to totals shown. 



SOURCES Peter Way and Ellen Jamison, CharacleristicsolSaentilic and Technical Manpower in the United Slates and Four Other Industrialized 



Countries (Washington, DC US Bureau ot the Census, 1986), U S Bureau ot the Census. Center tor International Research, "Recent Data 



on Scientists and Engineers in Industrialized Countries'" (Washington, D C February 1988), U S Bureau of Labor Statistics; and the National 



Science foundation 



Comparative data for engineers in- 

 dicate higher relative levels of en- 

 gineers per 10,000 labor force in 

 Japan: in 1985, there were 187 en- 

 gineers per 10,000 labor force com- 

 pared with 183 in the United States 

 in 1986. Japan had 65 scientists per 

 10,000 labor force compared with 117 

 in the United States. 



Both countries have experienced 

 significant increases in the stock of 

 nonacademic scientists and engi- 

 neers relative to overall labor force 

 increases. The Japanese stock of sci- 

 entists and engineers grew 61 per- 

 cent from 1980 to 1985; during this 

 period, the total labor force grew by 

 only 5 percent. Concurrently, the 

 number of scientists doubled, largely 

 because of a 147-percent increase in 

 the number of computer specialists 

 (the proportion of natural scientists 

 per 10,000 labor force remained con- 

 stant from 1980 to 1985). Also, the 

 number of engineers increased by 50 

 percent, with the stock of electrical/ 

 electronic engineers nearly dou- 



bling. The U.S. experience was sim- 

 ilar: increases of nearly 50 percent or 

 more were registered in most cate- 

 gories of scientists and engineers, 

 with the largest growth (119 per- 

 cent) occurring in the stock of com- 

 puter specialists. In contrast, the U.S. 

 labor force increased only 10 percent 

 from 1980 to 1986. 



R&D scientists and engineers. 

 Distinct from the total stock of sci- 

 entists and engineers is the number 

 who are currently active in R&D.' 

 Japanese and U.S. surveys on the 



Unlike data on the stock of scientists anci engi- 

 neers, which exclude academics, data on scientists 

 and engineers engaged in R&D include academic 

 scientists and engineers. Stock data are deiived from 

 the occupational categories of national censuses, 

 which do not distinguish academics by discipline. 

 Consequently, it is not possible to calculate only 

 that faculty in science and engineering from the 

 census data. On the other hand, the numbers of 

 scientists and engineers engaged m R&D are ob- 

 tained from R&D surveys that do dishnguish per- 

 sonnel by discipline. 



number of scientists and er, 

 engaged in R&D are not strictly 

 comparable, because Japanese sur- 

 veys ask for the total number of sci- 

 entists and engineers engaged in 

 R&D regardless of the amount of time 

 devoted to R&D activities. U.S. sur- 

 veys, on the other hand, ask for ad- 

 justments to estimate full-time 

 equivalence. In order to adjust the 

 Japanese data, information here ex- 

 cludes data on the social sciences and 

 humanities and uses only data on 

 the natural sciences and engineer- 

 ing-* 



Regardless of these differences, 

 there can be no dispute concerning 

 the rapid increase of Japan's S/E la- 

 bor force. The total number of Jap- 

 anese R&D scientists and engineers 

 engaged in R&D has tripled since 

 1965, and in 1986 was 405,600— one- 

 half of the U.S. full-time-equivalent 

 total of 802,300. Japan's scientists and 

 engineers are also much younger 

 than their U.S. counterparts: in 1985, 

 almost one-half of Japanese nona- 

 cademic scientists and engineers 

 were under 35 years old, compared 

 with 28 percent in the United States. 

 The ratio of Japanese R&D scientists 

 and engineers per 10,000 labor force 

 was about one-third the U.S. ratio 

 in 1965; in 1986, however, the two 

 ratios were comparable at 69 percent 

 and 67 percent, respectively (chart 

 9). Within the R&D-performing sec- 

 tors, Japan has a slightly larger ab- 

 solute number of scientists and 

 engineers in the higher education 

 sector than the U.S. full-time equiv- 

 alent; however, the United States has 

 2.5 times as many industrial scien- 

 tists and engineers engaged in R&D 

 as does Japan and nearly three times 

 as many in government and non- 

 profit settings (chart 10). 



'By excluding social scientists from the Japanese 

 S/E data, it is possible to get a closer estimate of 

 those fuU-Hme scienhsts and engineers actually con- 

 ducHng R&D. For a more detailed discussion of this 

 adjustment, see appendix A. 



