Who are the chemists and what do they do

Doctoral chemists are much less likely to pursue careers in academia than are other Ph.D. scientists. Conversely, they are far more likely to work for industry. They are also more likely to be retired than other Ph.D. scientists. And those who are in the workforce are slightly more likely to become unemployed. These are some unsurprising factoids about the chemistry profession quantified in selected data released last week by the National Science Foundation from its latest survey of the demographic and employment characteristics of doctoral scientists and engineers under the age of 76. NSF will publish a full, more detailed report later this year. The new study is the 13th in a biennial series started in 1973. It reports data as of the week of April 15, 1997, and is based on responses to 55,000 mailed questionnaires. Total response rate, either by mail or by follow-up phone calls, was 85%. According to the new data, ...