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LETTERS
Chemistry jobs
SIR: Three recent letters prompt me to add my two cents to the discussion concerning the employment dilemma faced by graduating chemists and chemical engineers. First, Attila E. Pavlath bewails the supply-demand problem currently facing graduates (C&EN, Sept. 12,1994, page 46). To this, Dexter B. Northrop (C&EN, Dec. 5, 1994, page 5) replies quite correctly that this situation applies to other professions. Finally, in a following letter in the same issue, Spiro D. Alexandratos defends the graduate student training system and points out the close bonds between student and mentor as well as the discrepancy between supply and demand that goes as far Composition Systems Administrator Vincent L. Parker. Assistant: Robin L. Braverman back as the seventies. Marketing Manager David Schulbaum Someone has suggested that all new Circulation Manager Donna W. Carvana ADVISORY BOARD: Marvin Cassman, Rhetta Q. hires should be inserted at the top of an Davis, Gerald Epstein, James E. Evans, Marye Anne Fox, organization and then allowed to sink to Diana Garcia-Prichard, Richard A. Lerner, Janet G. Osthe level of their competency. This is a diteryoung, Harold A. Sorgenti, Peter J. Stang, Kathleen C. Taylor, David A. Tirrell, Margaret A. Tolbert, Tamae sastrous suggestion, but in actuality someMaeda Wong thing of the sort occurs in a rapidly changPublished by ing scientific, technical, and economic AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY world. As people are winnowed out, (202) 872-4600; TDD (202) 872-4432 John Kistler Crum, Executive Director countless numbers are faced with reorientRobert H. Marks, Director, Publications Division ing their lives. Some other very wise perPUBLISHING BOARD: Joseph A. Dixon (Ouiintum); Board of Directors Cluiirman: Paul H. L. Walter; President:son has suggested that the mark of an edBrian M. Rushton; Paul S. Anderson, Judith C. Giorucated man is the ability to survive and dan, Ned D. Heindel, Barbara J. Peterson enjoy life in the face of change. Which Subscription & Member Record Service: Send all brings me to the point of this letter. new and renewal subscriptions with payments to: ACS, Dept. L-0011, Columbus, Ohio 432684011. CorresponWhen I entered this world some 80 dence and telephone calls for changes of address, claims years ago, the whole of science, indeed, of for missing issues, subscription orders, status of records and accounts should be directed to: Manager, Member & knowledge, was in the grasp of the human Subscriber Services, ACS, P.O. Box 3337, Columbus, Ohio mind. By the time I entered Texas Univer43210; (800) 333-9511 or (614) 447-3776. sity some 20 years later, the whole of For changes of address, include both old and new addresses with ZIP code numbers and mailing label from a knowledge was so vast that specialization recent issue. Allow four weeks for change to become efwas imperative. So I chose // science/ , with fective. 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4 FEBRUARY 27,1995 C&EN
ATTENTION: The phone number for USAir was listed incorrectly in the preliminary program for the ACS national meeting in Anaheim, Calif. The correct number is (800) 334-8644.
The point I am making is that our entire educational system is in need of revamping. Education should prepare students for life—not for a profession. Students should be taught how to acquire knowledge and how to adjust to changing economic realities. Science is too broad for anyone to grasp fully, but the interrelationships between the branches of science are too numerous to specialize completely. In this computer age, knowledge is at our fingertips. Let's teach our children how to find it and how to exploit it. Aubrey R. McKinney ACS Member Emeritus Corpus Christi, Texas SIR: I read with interest the views of colleagues in the scientific community about the oversupply of Ph.D. chemists and engineers, the need for universities to impose a quota on the number of Ph.D.s, and so forth, in these columns. On the contrary, I would like to submit that for a country such as the U.S., the number of Ph.D.granting institutions and institutions of higher education is not all that high. Having said that, however, I believe that the emphasis placed on Ivy League-type institutions of long-standing tradition is excessive. I believe that this emphasis has created a pool of frustrated Ph.D. scientists who begin their pursuit of higher knowledge with the intention of serving their communities as academicians /scientists, but end up unable to do so. Newsweek (Dec. 5,1994) had a two-page article on Ph.D. unemployment. Their solution to the problem was for universities to give a master's degree as an end in itself and not to see a master's as a fallback for those who cannot fulfill all the requirements of a Ph.D. degree. I suggest that this problem is a hidden opportunity to promote science in our society. Yes, I support the creation of more colleges. Having more colleges would Continued on page 58
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LETTERS Continued from page 4 lead to greater competition among universities in areas such as recruiting better students, adapting curricula to contemporary needs, hiring and firing faculty who are more effective in motivating students and helping them in their pursuit of higher learning, better defining an individual department's areas of research excellence, creating alumni who possess a greater stake in their former departments, and promoting science in society. Such intense competition will lead to decentralization of the academic power machinery that now rests in the hands of the Ivy League types. Let me conclude with a question: For a dynamic nation such as ours, when was the last time a new university was opened? Kal Renganathan Wlute River Junction, Vt. SIR: After reading so much about Ph.D.s and the job market for so long, I shudder to write one more letter on the subject. Yet, I believe that a reasonable, attainable, and sustainable, albeit imperfect, solution exists and deserves a fresh look. As best as I can recall, we have already heard from almost all sides of this issue: new Ph.D.s who could or couldn't find a job, Ph.D.s who did or did not get laid off, retired Ph.D.s, professors, university administrators, employers who did or did not hire more Ph.D.s, and government and private funding agencies. I have also read about supply-and-demand and free-market theories and whether they should or should not be applied to this situation. The only point everyone seems to agree on is that this is a tough, complex, and sometimes emotional problem involving many special interest groups. Today, one harsh reality is that the U.S. chemical industry, historically a large, if not the largest employer of Ph.D. chemists, has undergone fundamental economic, structural, and global changes in the past three decades. Nothing can or will reverse this metamorphosis. The golden years of chemical R&D, from the 1950s to late 70s and early '80s are gone. Overall, traditional R&D jobs in the petrochemicals, fine chemicals, specialty chemicals, and refining sectors have decreased substantially over the past several years. The trend is inevitably for even more reductions in the future. Having said that, can we find a palatable solution to this problem? I think so. First, what are the desired outcomes? Society needs a more science-wise and, certainly, a more chemistry-wise population. Employers need some Ph.D.-level researchers to remain competitive. Ph.D.s want to find jobs or to avoid losing jobs. Professors need research assistants to conduct cutting-edge research. Universi58 FEBRUARY 27,1995 C&EN
ties and chemistry departments need instructors to help teach chemistry courses and labs to undergraduates. Government and private funding agencies want to maximize the impact of their research grants among the many different competing disciplines. What should we do then? Reducing the size of Ph.D. programs and at the same time increasing the number of B.S.- or M.S.-level "career" laboratory and teaching assistants or instructors in universities would offer the best solution to the problem. Academic chemistry research would continue without the fear of lower output or lost funding. The cost of doing research should go down and the quality may go up as a result of stability and continuity of laboratory personnel under the professors' supervision. Complaints that some professors refuse to let their senior (and presumably more productive) Ph.D. students graduate in order to squeeze out more publishable work would subside. Ph.D. students would get more attention from their advisers because there would be fewer of them competing for the professors' time. Sure, the number of Ph.D.s granted would shrink, but these Ph.D.s would probably be better prepared for employment and their chances of finding jobs and getting higher compensations would be better. Employers benefit too. While they would have to pay higher wages, this would be offset by a shorter "breakin" period before the new Ph.D.s become productive. Taxpayers and government and private funding agencies should be happy, too, because there would be a bigger bang for the same research buck. The national goal of expanding and improving undergraduate science education would be met with more efficiency, because without the pressure of taking courses and exams, instructors can spend more time helping the undergraduate students study and understand chemistry. This plan would also provide a steady stream of job
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opportunities for many individuals interested in chemistry who, but for want of jobs, may never have intended to get a Ph.D. degree in the first place. All in all, this general approach would provide a win-win solution for everyone: more jobs and job security; more competition; better undergraduate education; better-trained Ph.D.s for employers; fewer frustrated, hard-working, yet jobless Ph.D.s; and perhaps even lower cost and higher quality research. I do not claim this simplistic suggestion is perfect or even original. As a matter of fact, one can find similar schemes in Europe. It is high time for those in decisionmaking positions to look at this approach seriously and to initiate debates on its merits and drawbacks. How about those who have already passed through the system? My advice is keep looking and you may land one of those scarce jobs. Or, follow this transformed age-old adage—'There is life after Ph.D." It is never too late to consider a new career or direction and you just may like it. Many technical and nontechnical areas can always use a few good minds; for example, environmental science, material science, forensic science, biotechnology, science writing and reporting, teaching in secondary schools, business, and law. I firmly believe that with enough resolve and with academia, employers, and both government and private funding agencies working together, this is a solvable problem. More important, at the end of the day, everybody will benefit from it. Hsiang-ning (Sean) Sun Attorney at Law Houston SIR: "An open letter to chemistry faculty/, (C&EN, Dec. 19,1994, page 52), was interesting but perhaps unrealistic and misleading. The reason for the unemployment problem is not inadequate preparation but a shortage of jobs—or surplus of chemists. For example, by far the most important attribute for an industrial synthetic organic chemist is expertise in organic synthesis. Certainly, the ability to think well is very important, as are communication skills and team-player effectiveness. Such a chemist's ability to retain his or her position will seldom depend on knowledge of physics, biology, chemical engineering, or economics. Furthermore, it is a mistake to underestimate the opportunities for both on-the-job and off-the-job training in such areas. I find it difficult to sympathize with the employment problems of an experienced chemist whose training and increase in knowledge terminated with the end of his or her formal education. Harold Greenfield HGV Consulting Co. Green Valley, Ariz.
