Subcommittee on Basic Research Hearing on Graduate Education
A National Academy of Sciences report, “Reshaping the Graduate Education of Scientists and Engineers,” was the focus of a July 13 hearing by the House Subcommittee on Basic Research. Although not intended as a pretext to new legislation, it provided an opportunity for the subcommittee to examine this issue.
The first witness was the chairman of the committee producing the report, Phillip A. Griffiths of Princeton University. He characterized as a myth the contention that “most PhDs go on to careers in academe.” Griffiths also described as a myth “that there is high unemployment among PhDs.” The 1993 unemployment rate for all scientists and engineers was 1.6%; for new PhDs, approximately 2%. He continued, “recent PhDs are finding jobs -- but they are finding non-academic jobs more easily than they are finding academic research positions. They are feeling the pain of unmet expectations.”
Among the committee’s recommendations were: (1) “graduate programs be more flexible and provide more options for students,” (2) “students should receive better career information and guidance,” (3) “time to degree should be tightened,” (4) “a new class of grants called education/training grants.”
Committee member response to Griffiths was positive. Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), and later Rep. George Brown (D-CA), wondered if the longer time to attain a degree was because of the desire of research universities to maintain a supply of inexpensive labor. Griffiths replied that there were many factors responsible for this phenomenon. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), citing the 1.6% unemployment figure said, “hell, that’s not unemployment; that’s full employment.” Regarding the lack of preferred employment opportunities, he said, “join the rest of us.” Subcommittee chairman Steven Schiff (R-NM) agreed that unemployment is low, but wondered aloud about underemployment, to which Griffiths acknowledged that it is “a major problem and getting worse.” He said the committee did not examine salary levels.
Next to testify were NSF Director Neal Lane and NIH Director Harold Varmus. In Lane’s prepared testimony, he said of unemployment and underemployment, “it is easy to imagine the situation getting worse before it gets any better.” He continued, “The issue at stake is not simply whether there will be enough faculty openings for tomorrow’s Ph.D.s, but rather why has a society so broadly based in science and technology managed to define so narrowly the role and responsibilities of scientists and engineers within its midst.” During later questioning, Lane said, “if you don’t have a job, the unemployment rate is 100%.” Chairman Schiff asked Lane and Varmus to prepare a letter within 90 days detailing how they will respond to the report’s recommendations.
The final panel of witnesses was drawn from private industry and academe. Kevin Aylesworth, founder of the Young Scientists Network, recommended, as did other witnesses and subcommittee members, that government-mandated caps on graduate students should not be imposed. He continued, “The pool of graduate students should be allowed to shrink or grow in response to changes in demand in the end-user market.” In his testimony, George Walker, Chair of the Council of Graduate Schools, cited data that will appear in a soon-to-be-released report by the American Institute of Physics Education and Employment Statistics Division. These statistics show that there has been approximately a 20% decline in first year physics graduate students in PhD granting departments from 1992 to 1995.
An executive summary of the National Academy of Sciences report, “Reshaping the Graduate Education of Scientists and Engineers” is available on the NAS home page at: http://www.nas.edu/nap/online/grad/summary.html The full report can be purchased in hard copy by calling 800-624-6242.
The American Institute of Physics report will soon be available, and can be obtained by calling 301-209-3067.
