Preparing students for physics‐related jobs
DOI: 10.1063/1.3128276
Physicists are now searching for new and alternative paths for the progress of their profession through the many problems surfacing in the 1970’s. During the golden years of the last decade, we in the academic world felt secure and self‐contained; we did physics and we taught physics. But the growing cutbacks in funds and in job opportunities have caused us to re‐evaluate our personal goals, our responsibility to the larger society and our interactions with governmental, industrial and educational institutions. The business of training physicists is no longer a viable support for the avocation of doing physics. An obvious solution to these problems is for the academic physicist to offer his talent to a wider market, to move into physics‐related fields, to engage in interdisciplinary efforts to solve current social, economic and scientific problems and to offer training that will prepare students for physics‐related jobs.
References
1. V. Elings, D. Phillips, Am. J. Phys. 41, 570 (1973).https://doi.org/AJPIAS
2. R. S. Lee, Am. J. Phys. 39, 1377 (1971).https://doi.org/AJPIAS
3. P. W. Forbes, Am. J. Phys. 41, 1012 (1973).https://doi.org/AJPIAS
4. D. G. Onn, Am. J. Phys. 40, 1147 (1972).https://doi.org/AJPIAS
5. P. W. Laws, Am. J. Phys. 41, 808 (1972).https://doi.org/AJPIAS
6. A. A. Burr, K. E. Mortenson, S. Verazunis, Eng. Educ. 60, 289 (1969).https://doi.org/ENEDBV
7. S. D. Ellis, Work Complex Study, AIP Publication R‐224 (1969).
8. W. R. Snelling, R. F. Boruch, Factors Influencing Student Choice of College and Course Study, American Council on Education, Washington, D.C. (1972).
More about the Authors
Arnold A. Strassenburg. State University of New York, Stony Brook.
