Earth and Space Sciences Jobs

Pay increased and job search time decreased for US graduates in Earth and space sciences during the five-year period from 1996 to 2000. These are among the findings of the latest annual survey conducted by the American Geophysical Union, American Geological Institute, and the American Institute of Physics.

Among survey respondents who received their PhDs in 2000, 28% described the job market as good or excellent and 22% said it was bad or hopeless. In 1996, only 4% had a positive perception of the job market and 65% found it dismal.

The recent results show that 97% of the PhD class of the year 2000 were employed in science and engineering and 82% found work in the Earth and space sciences. About half moved directly into full-time positions, while 42% took postdocs.

The recent downturn of the US economy will probably have a slightly negative effect on the job market for the class of 2001, says Roman Czujko, manager of AIP’s Statistical Research Center. “It might be a little harder to find permanent positions, and more graduates might end up in postdocs than previous years.”

The full report, Earth & Space Science PhDs, Class of 2000, is available at http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/emptrends.htm .