competitive with industry and universities in initial employment at the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. levels. With added professional experience, applicants are qualified to enter the service at higher salary levels. T h e current maximum salary for scientists in the Government is $19,000. Salaries in the federal service like those in industry and universities have been raised a number of times in recent years. T h e salary levels mentioned may well be increased within the next few months. The Administration is recommending to Congress that salaries of federal employees be increased substantially. Educational Opportunities
In keeping with an increasingly accepted practice in many industrial organizations, many government agencies have authority to provide in-hours and out-ofhours courses, generally done in cooperation with some adjacent university, so as to provide advanced training opportunities and assist young scientists to obtain advanced degrees and training. There is legislation before Congress to make this type of assistance available throughout the government scientific agencies as well as to provide senior scientists with essentially a "sabbatical" type of advanced study opportunity to maintain close contact with professional advances. W o r k i n g Conditions a n d Fringe Benefits
Chemists and chemical engineers may be employed in basic research or development areas with opportunities to move to various laboratories or for that matter to any laboratory or agency in the federal employment service with a full transfer of seniority, retirement, vacation leave, sick leave, insurance, and the fringe benefits. Employees earn leave on the basis of length of service, with 13 workdays of annual leave with pay for less than three years of service, 20 workdays for less than 15 years of service, and 26 workdays maximum annual leave. T h e Government's sick leave system is designed to provide employees protection in case of long periods of illness. Employees earn 13 days of sick leave, with full pay^ each year. Employees who are members of one of the reserves of the Department of Defense are given a maximum of 15 calendar clays of military leave each year with full pay and without charge against annual leave. The Government encourages and aids employees to improve their job ability and broaden their experience through study or specialized research. T h e federal retirement system is one of the best of the participating or purchasable systems. An employee contributes 6.5c/r of his salary to the retirement fund, and retirement is based on his five best salary years. The plan provides for disability retirement and benefits for surviving dependents of employees with five or more years of service. For example, the annuity of an employee, age 60 years, with 30 years' service and highest average salary for five consecutive years at 812,500, is about $7000.' A special life insurance is available at low cost to employees with the amount of insurance being equivalent to a year's salary.
The Chemist as I n d e p e n d e n t Professional SIDNEY M. CANTOR Sidney M . Cantor Associates, Philadelphia, Pa.
T h e prospective professional chemist observing the vast complexity that is today's chemical industry cannot b e blamed for feeling somewhat dismayed. As he learns the many places in which a chemist or chemical engineer can be used in a large organization he may be both encouraged and confused. However, he will be strongly influenced by his relation to the intellectual aspect of his education, a highly individual one, particularly if he has done graduate work. The strength and individuality of that relationship are important if he is to respond with original ideas. in the face of this he wonders, as he views the large research and development departments, the large industrial research institutes, the large consulting firms, if there is room for him to be something other than what appears to be a small unit in a very large organization. Is there room for him to flourish as an independent creative professional? It would be less than fair to the neophyte to answer yes without qualification. Certainly there will always be an opportunity for the rare person who combines technical skill with business sense. Organizations are set up to finance the ideas of such people. Also there will always be a market for inventions in a society such as ours which uses ideas at an ever-increasing rate. Independent inventors do exist. Equally there will always be a market for the service of the technical specialist or problem solver, whether he operates from the security of a university post or the more precarious home office. But aside from these activities of varying degrees of independence, more and more industrial organizations are coming to recognize that if the productivity of their chemists and chemical engineers is to be maintained, their individuality must be reinforced. Such reinforcement often comes better from outside than from within. Here, perhaps we can see the greatest promise to the aspiring independent. For this is the area in which the consultant operates; and consulting in its many roles is an independent professional activity. A Fresh A p p r o a c h
While the road to consulting has been a hard one in the past, the very complexity of our industrial structure and the fact that this complexity appears to be increasing may be creating the need for a fresh approach to consulting—a new kind of consultant who is a generalist rather than a specialist. Characteristically, such an individual (and some consultants have always practiced in that way), rather than providing specific technical information, will be equipped to offer, among other services, objective technically based appraisals, to interpret technical language, and to serve as a communications channel. He will provide a measure of reassurance both to management and technical personnel. And perhaps most important he will encourage the development of a creative atmosphere, thereby reinforcing the aspiraJAN.
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Background f o r technical consultation includes experience in
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EDUCATION
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tions of the technical staff. T h e fact that he will carry out one or all of these functions in an independent and therefore noncompetitive way is a major justification for his presence. It is quite possible that only through the efforts of such consultants can the complexity and impersonality of the large industrial organizations b e broken down enough to utilize creative personnel efficiently. The kind of independent professional activity which has been described offers a challenge both to the neophyte a n d to t h e experienced b u t dissatisfied chemist. It is not, as some may conclude, an exclusive field for the elderly or retired research director. It is important, therefore, to examine a n d understand the changing nature of the chemical profession, whether it truly qualifies as a profession, and what skills must be acquired to find a meaningful and secure place in it as an independent. The Changing Profession
From the latest comprehensive survey of the economic and professional status of chemists and chemical engineers conducted
by t h e AMERICAN*
CHEMICAL
emerge two trends of particular interest to aspiring independents. One is that by far the largest number of graduates—over 7 0 ^ — goes into the chemical and process industries. Thus, in the largest sense, we are an industrially oriented group. The other is that the number of independent practitioners in these fields has shrunk from a high of about 10% in t h e early twenties to less than 29c at present. These statistics may not appear to he rxirticularly startling. But when w e note the fivefold shrinkage in independents and at the same time observe that a good deal of the practice of chemistry has changed from an activity in which the individual was uppermost to one in which the group is uppermost, it is apparent th at chemistry and chemical engineering have indeed become "group" as well as "captive" professions. SOCIETY
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There is no intent here to imply that the captive or group professional is an inferior professional. Many sociological investigations have shown that the development of the "organization scientist" has paralleled the development of the "organization man" and each of these in the same way is a product of the complexity and security-mindedness of our industrial culture. It is only where the captive professional becomes more captive than professional that h e becomes inferior. To avoid this common trap is as much a problem of the embryo industrial chemist as is the development of professional skills and it is important for the consultant to recognize and apply methods for retaining and fortifying independent professional attitudes. Professional Attitudes
There is extra need these days for such fortification. W e hear on all sides the suggestion that more chemists and chemical engineers are needed. What is really meant, of course, is that more new ideas are needed, or to put it another way that the productivity of chemists and chemical engineers has diminished. To the extent that the industrial scientist or engineer has been subverted by the highly organized nature of industrial activity and has thus lost the characteristics of individuality which are called creativity, to that extent he has not recognized his professional responsibility and has indeed adapted t o captivity. There is further need for the development and fortification of independent professional attitudes. To some extent the chemist and chemical engineer along with the rest of the scientific and engineering professions are being told again that they are not held in high enough regard by the public and that in effect the public must be educated to think better of them. While there is certainly truth to the observation that in the American tradition the cow puncher rather than the school teacher (and scientists are associated with school teachers) is more highly regarded, it is also true that respect and status can neither be
legislated to any group nor publicly avowed as a result of Congressional resolution. Public respect and high professional status must start from within a profession, and the consultant must perform his function in a manner which impresses this fact. Chemistry as a Profession
The eminent Justice Brandeis once defined a profession in the following way. "A profession," h e said, "is an occupation requiring extensive preliminary intellectual training, pursued primarily for others and not merely oneself, and accepting as the measure of achievement one's contribution to society rather than individual financial reward/' That is a demanding definition and there a p p e a r s to b e a feeling among chemists that the chemist is a professional only in the sense that he gets p a i d for pursuing an activity which is primarily intellectual. He seems to feel he lacks an element which t h e professions of law and medicine have, namely, direct contact with the public. Such contact, he thinks, helps to clothe the profession with dignity and t o develop public respect for the profession as a whole and its members individually. Where this feeling errs is in the mistaken notion that direct contact with the public is essential to t h e recognition of social contribution. In the same sense as with the physician or lawyer the industrial chemist has a patient or client. His client is the management of the company in which h e is employed. His status to a large extent must be achieved with that group and via that group with t h e public as represented h y consumers on the one hand and stockholders on t h e other. The chemist who is not aware of and in accord with the objectives of his company is wasting his and his company's time. However, it is not enough to ask for a statement of objectives from management; it is necessary also to help in their formulation. This is a part of professional responsibility. Too often a complete lack of professional standards automatically commits a chemist or chemical engineer to accept a purely routine or mediocre attitude as his own. A recent survey by Booz, Allen, and Hamilton, a management consulting firm, questioned 3500 research people in 23 companies. Only 4 % said they were working on basic exploratory studies even though their managements thought differently. One half said they were not acquainted with performance standards set for them, had little knowledge of corporate objectives, The A u t h o r _ ,
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SIDNEY M. CANTOR is an independent consultant in Philadelphia, the head of Sidney M. Cantor Associates. He was educated at Reed College and Northwestern University. His work in industry has included positions as research chemist and assistant director of research at Corn Products Refining, and director of research and development at American Sugar Refining. He has been chairman of the ACS Division of Carbohydrate Chemistry.
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and often started projects of little value to the company; 58% felt that their laboratories were poorly organized and poorly run; 79*/^ felt that contact with other departments in the company was poor. Finally, 4 1 % felt that they were inadequately acquainted with the characteristics of their companies' products despite the fact that they were trying to improve them or supplant them with new ones. These results are disquieting but perhaps not too surprising when it is realized that the graduate chemist entering the industrial practice of his profession has had no adequate preparation in terms of contact with and opportunities for discussing the role of the chemist in industry and the elements of proper professional attitudes. Teaching Professional Attitudes
More attention should be paid to correcting this deficiency at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and the independent professional can perform a valuable consulting service here. Moreover, it is certainly a proper function of the independent professional t o help the technical supervision in a company explain program objectives and performance standards to management. Often, unfortunately, the technical supervising staff is deficient in its acceptance of professional responsibilities as the survey quoted reveals. While the professional measures achievement in terms of both contribution and reward, it is unwise to underestimate the importance of the reward. The doctrine of enlightened self-interest is well accepted and the responsible professional recognizes the need for adequate financial reward for both himself and the individuals associated with him. Here again the independent professional is often in a more strategic position to exert influence than technical management. It becomes increasingly clear that t h e functions of the independent professional chemist go far beyond the technical in the kind of consulting service which is being described here. Introduced to a supposedly technical problem the alert consultant sees quickly that in many instances it is not a technical one. Often it is an emotional problem—a problem in human relations. It may involve the correct statement of the real problem, or an inability to see its true form. It may concern the inability of an individual to communicate with the management or vice versa, the inability of the management to understand the problems of the laboratory. But to a large extent the technical aspect of the problem is often secondary. It becomes necessary therefore for the consultant to work through these complicated relationships, to define the various parts of the problem at their proper levels, and t o point out the proper approaches. The skill and knowledge that are needed in helping to solve problems of this sort may have little to do with chemistry. But to the extent that every chemist, not just a consultant, must participate in our very complex industrial organization, he needs some of these nontechnical abilities. He gets fewer of them actually in his training than most other essential industrial employees. Indeed there is some basis for associating lack of proficiency in interpersonal relations with high research skills. JAN.
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T h e organization and administration of creative activities, almost self-contradictory terms, can benefit greatly from the attentions of the experienced individual professional, who is aware of and sensitive to the conflicting motivations of the industrial researcher. In some instances the industrial chemist shows a sense of futility about his professional activity—a sense of guilt for not seeming to live up to the practical achievement our culture demands of the individual. T h e atmosphere of such achievement may be expressed typically in the industrial environment as a kind of aggressive anti-intellectualism. The industrial chemist shows signs of being torn between two goals: the goal of material achievement which directs his industrial activity, and the goal of scholarly achievement which is his tradition. In reality, both goals are needed because to a considerable extent the chemist who has allowed the measure of material achievement to be his sole measure of success has allowed the goals of others to replace his own goals, a n d in so doing has lost his professional status. Our culture is largely a pragmatic one and abstract, activities are always regarded with suspicion by the pragmatist. Perhaps to the extent that alchemy is the forerunner of chemistry, the chemist carries an inherited professional guilt associated with nonperformance. Indeed, it has been stated that the relationship b e t w e e n chemist and corporation is not too different from that which existed between alchemist a n d king. T h e chemist is still striving to convert base materials into "gold." Let him recognize realistically, however, with the h e l p of the independent professional, that h e need n o t shoulder the blame for the alchemist's failure despite the fact that often h e may be stuck with the label of nonproducer. The inherited professional debt, if there ever was one, has long since been discharged by t h e success of the modern chemical industry. A
Long-Term
Goal
In summary then, the growing complexity of the chemical industry and the need thus impressed for greater organization and control of chemists and chemical engineers can benefit from the services of t h e skilled and experienced independent professional chemist. The growing need for such technically based consultation offers real encouragement to the neophyte a n d to the experienced professionals who are willing to plan £ ,^-ir growth with this goal in mind and assume t h e necessary risks that are involved. The experience involved is considerable. A technic a l education is only the beginning. Administrative a n d management experience is almost essential. A broad liberal arts background is equally necessary. This provides a historical base to current practices and a connection with and appreciation of other disciplines which a purely technical education misses completely. Most important, however, is a sympathetic outlook on t h e problems arising from the sometimes conflicting roles that the scientist plays in our highly structured industrial organization. Understanding these, the consultant can fortify the individuality of the industrial scientist, can help to interpret and develop strong professional attitudes, and can thus contribute to a truly creative industrial environment. 76
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T h e Chemist a n d Chemical Engineer in t h e S m a l l Company SIDNEY J O H N S O N M e t a l Hydrides, Inc., B>eve rly, Mass.
T h e r e are many factors which a person embarking upon a career should consider before accenting employment. One of these is the size of tlie «company for which he is to work. Without question tihere are large, medium, and small concerns within th_e chemical industry which enjoy excellent employer-employee relations—and there are large, medium, a n d snnall companies with poor employer-employee relatiozns. Size alone, then, is not a recommended criterion fc>y which to judge a company. In selecting a career, one considers the deKnands of the position in question versus an estimate of one's capabilities. Salary, location, availability of housing, "fringe" benefits, and perhaps many other thbngs enter into a final decision. Yet, for most p e o p l e , factors which far outweigh these considerations are t h e qualities which we may call opportunity a n d challenge. A recent survey of the engineering profession [CHEM. ENG. NEWS, 35, 26 (July 29, 1957)] indicates these to b e the most important factors, not only for those just entering tlie profession, but for all experience levels, including even the 20- to 25-year level. We generally are more concerned with what we m a y b e doing and earning five to 10 years From now than we are with these factors at the present time. A job should afford the opportunity to learn, t o increase one's knowledge and capabilities, and to prepare one for larger responsibilities. It is here that th*e smaller company offers its singular advantage-for iMzs growth potential is greater—greater for the comr>any, and greater for the individual. This is not to say that small companies have any monopoly on o p p o r t u n i t y there are large companies which are growin ^ larger— and small companies which are getting smaller. Nevertheless, on the average, the opportunity is greater with the smaller company, simply because it is small; it has greater growth potential for the same reason that the child has greater growth potential than the adolescent. Opportunities for Recognition
The above-average individual is recognized more quickly in a relatively small organization. If a technical project employs 50 men, the average contribution of each man to the over-all progress of the project is 2c/r of the total effort, and a man contrib nting less than his full effort will reduce the cfBcierLcy of the project by something less than this figure-. Consequently, he may go unnoticed for a considerable period of time. If there are only five men, however, the average contribution of each man is 2 0 % of the total effort, and any slacking off by an incHividual is immediately evident. Conversely, and here is the im-
