Among the major findings of the study is that the employment pattern among industrial, four-year academic, post-doctoral and temporary, government, and unemployed categories is very similar for graduates for all sizes of chemistry Ph.D. programs. Of those who received their Ph.D.'s five to seven years before the survey was taken, three times as many Ph.D.'s are employed in industry as in academe and a significant number, about 15%, were still in temporary positions. Fewer than one-sixth of all Ph.D.'s are employed in colleges and universities, yet 50% of Ph.D. recipients take postdoctoral positions.

There are undoubtedly explanations for some of this disparity between job expectations and employment patterns, but the majority of Ph.D.'s who embark on a postdoctoral stint contemplating an academic research career are bound to be disappointed. Even for the one-in-six who finds employment in a four-year academic institution, the majority of job openings will not be at research universities. Only 180 of the over 3,200 colleges and universities in the country that hire chemistry Ph.D.'s offer doctoral programs. (There are, of course, a number of master's degree­granting institutions that offer research opportunities as well.)

What's to be done? For changes in doctoral programs themselves to have an impact, the largest Ph.D.-producing universities must take the lead. Several of the largest programs in the country have already begun to implement changes, making students more aware of the opportunities actually available to them and introducing practices to enhance students' viability in the workplace. Among these measures are inviting more industrial chemists to participate in seminar programs, inviting faculty from four-year and two-year colleges to explain the role of pedagogy and new teaching approaches, and encouraging students to spend time in industrial settings or in interdisciplinary projects. Some universities are monitoring programs more closely to ensure that graduate students hone their communications skills.

College faculty can make a difference by advising students of the realities of the job market and of important criteria for selecting a graduate school. Qualities of graduate schools that prospective students should evaluate include the job placement of graduates (if they can't get this informationthey've identified a problem) and how the program prepares for industrial careers or for four-year college teaching or for whatever the student feels to be her or his primary career goal. Students should also be advised that program requirements are not to be avoided but, in fact, help ensure that students receive a solid education. Some beneficial components are qualification examinations to evaluate readiness for graduate work, courses in more than one area of chemistry, written and oral propositions for candidacy, and an expectation of periodic presentation of research progress. Graduate programs clearly recognize the need to recruit bright, perceptive students and may, indeed, respond by examining their own programs when they find that prospective students ask these kinds of questions.

Note

1. You may obtain a copy of the task force report "Employment Patterns of Recent Doctorates in Chemistry: Institutional Perspectives and Imperatives for Change" on the World Wide Web at http://www.acs.org or by writing to the ACS Membership Service Center, Doctoral Education Task Force Report, 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 or by calling 1-800-451-9190.