467 



HUMAN. PHYSICAL, AND FISCAL RESOURCES t29 



■ ao. D CO. %MGandG [^ P.O. ^O.E. ^ Total 



400 



350 - 

 300 - 



250 - 

 200 - 

 150 - 

 100 

 50 

 



E. 



h J I 



<30 



30-40 



40-50 

 Age Group 



50-60 



>60 



FIGURE 4-8 Age distribution of Ph.D. -level oceanographers in ocean- 

 graphic institutions and universities (OSB survey). 



Figures 4-8 and 4-9 show that for universities and government 

 laboratories, respectively, the largest number of oceanographers in 

 any age range falls m the 40- to 50-year-old category. The marked 

 peak in the age distribution of federally employed oceanographers 

 could reflect the establishment and expansion of federal oceanog- 

 raphy programs in the 1970s. 



The ratio of full to assistant professors in ocean sciences over 

 the past 20 years has increased from 1.0 to 1.6 (Table 4-1). During 

 roughly the same period, NSF data show an increase from 1.0 to 

 3.5. This reason for this discrepancy in unknown, although the 

 large standard error in the NSF data makes comparisons difficult. 

 Figure 4-10 shows the increase in Ph.D. -level staff by rank. The 

 number of postdoctoral positions increased from 11 in 1970 to 

 111 in 1990, according to OSB data, compared with an increase 

 from 20 in 1973 to .84 in 1989, according to NSF data. 



Figure 4-11 shows changes in the number of Ph.D. -level ocean- 

 ographers by discipline over time, as determined by the OSB sur- 



