THE DEMAND FOR SCIENTIFIC PERSONNEL

The demand for scientific personnel, as stated earlier, has been steadily increasing over the years in industry, Government, and educational institutions. Following a contraction from the war peak, particularly in industry and Government, the employment of persons trained in science has resumed its upward, peacetime trend. Although a full discussion is not warranted here, some of the factors tending to increase the effective demand for all scientists are noted briefly below, since an expanding over-all need improves the opportunity for women who seek employment in scientific work.

In Private Industry

In industry the demand is increasing, both for scientific research workers and for engineering and other personnel who need scientific training to do technical work required in the functioning of the particular industry or business. The need for the latter type of operating personnel sky-rocketed during the war, as industry not only expanded but functioned 24 hours a day. The postwar demand for engineers, control chemists, mathematical computers, vitamin assayists, and others included in this group fell below that abnormal peak but remained higher than the prewar demand. This is because the industries in which the proportion of such workers is relatively high have been steadily expanding over the years; for instance, the chemical industries, including the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, the foods industry, and the petroleum industry. Many small industrial companies, as well as some medical practitioners, have chemical and other routine testing done for them in commercial laboratories. These, too, have been increasing in number and were estimated at 250 in 1945. Expansion of construction, to make up for the lag during the depression years preceding the war as well as the wartime postponement of nonessential building, has accelerated the employment of architects and of civil engineers beyond the normal growth related to needs of the growing population.

In industrial research, the growth in demand has been more spectacular, from 3 industrial research laboratories in 1905 to 2,443 in 1946 (43) (21). According to one writer, this expansion should continue, since he estimated that there were 25,000 firms in 1945 which could and should maintain such laboratories (29). More significant

in the physical and biological sciences and encourages the application and dissemination of scientific knowledge for the benefit of the Nation. Its 220 members represent 85 national scientific organizations, Government agencies, and other research institutions and include a limited number of members-at-large. In 1947, 3 of its members were women, 2 in anthropology and 1 a nutritionist in the Division of Biology and Agriculture. The divisions of the Council are: Physical sciences, engineering and industrial research, chemistry and chemical technology, geology and geography, medical sciences, biology and agriculture, anthropology and psychology, foreign relations, and educational relations. Its Office of Scientific Personnel was in 1947 engaged in a study of the supply of Ph. D.'s in the sciences.

Among the many honorary and social fraternities in the scientific fields such as Sigma Xi and Tau Beta Pi to which a few women have been elected, there is a national graduate women's scientific fraternity called Sigma Delta Epsilon, the only woman's organization to be affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1946 it had 15 chapters with about 500 active members. It furthers interest in science, provides for the recognition of women in science, and brings them together in a fraternal relationship. Το be eligible for membership, a woman must hold a degree from a recognized institution of learning and must be, or have been, engaged in scientific research. A scholarship fund for women in science provides an annual scholarship, alternately predoctoral and postdoctoral.

In 1946 the Technical and Scientific Division of the United Office and Professional Workers of America, Congress of Industrial Organizations, successor to the CIO International Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists, and Technicians, announced its launching as an organization to cover "technical, scientific and salaried employees in industrial establishments, engineering and design offices, laboratories, and offices." Figures on national membership were not available, but the Washington representative reported 250 members in the Washington, D. C., chapter in December 1946.

THE DEMAND FOR SCIENTIFIC PERSONNEL

The demand for scientific personnel, as stated earlier, has been steadily increasing over the years in industry, Government, and educational institutions. Following a contraction from the war peak, particularly in industry and Government, the employment of persons trained in science has resumed its upward, peacetime trend. Although a full discussion is not warranted here, some of the factors tending to increase the effective demand for all scientists are noted briefly below, since an expanding over-all need improves the opportunity for women who seek employment in scientific work.

In Private Industry

In industry the demand is increasing, both for scientific research workers and for engineering and other personnel who need scientific training to do technical work required in the functioning of the particular industry or business. The need for the latter type of operating personnel sky-rocketed during the war, as industry not only expanded but functioned 24 hours a day. The postwar demand for engineers, control chemists, mathematical computers, vitamin assayists, and others included in this group fell below that abnormal peak but remained higher than the prewar demand. This is because the industries in which the proportion of such workers is relatively high have been steadily expanding over the years; for instance, the chemical industries, including the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, the foods industry, and the petroleum industry. Many small industrial companies, as well as some medical practitioners, have chemical and other routine testing done for them in commercial laboratories. These, too, have been increasing in number and were estimated at 250 in 1945. Expansion of construction, to make up for the lag during the depression years preceding the war as well as the wartime postponement of nonessential building, has accelerated the employment of architects and of civil engineers beyond the normal growth related to needs of the growing population.

In industrial research, the growth in demand has been more spectacular, from 3 industrial research laboratories in 1905 to 2,443 in 1946 (43) (21). According to one writer, this expansion should continue, since he estimated that there were 25,000 firms in 1945 which could and should maintain such laboratories (29). More significant

than the number of laboratories has been the increase in expenditures for industrial research. The amount spent by industry on research more than doubled from 1930 to 1940, when it reached 234 million (45). In 1947, industry budgeted 450 million for research. Expectations are that the growth will continue. One outstanding scientist recently noted three new trends in the attitude of industry toward research: An increasing interest in fundamental research, a liberal interpretation of company policy, and an increasing tendency to cooperate with other companies in the industry or with universities (7). In addition to company laboratories, industry is using trade associations, university research services to industry, research institutions, and consulting laboratories for research projects (50). In 1946, as noted earlier, almost 55,000 scientific personnel and 35,000 additional technical personnel were employed in industrial research laboratories, an increase of 50 percent in the former and of more than 100 percent in the latter group since 1940 (43) (21). Chemistry and engineering continued to be the principal scientific groups among industrial research personnel, although all types of scientific workers were employed. The number of biological scientists in industrial research laboratories, including bacteriologists, increased 69 percent from 1940 to 1946, more than any other single major group.

In Government

The peacetime demand for scientific personnel by Government has been increasing even more rapidly than that in industry. State and local expenditures for laboratory personnel, particularly in the field of public health, and for engineers have grown. In addition, the Federal Government nearly tripled its expenditures for scientific research in the decade from 1930 to 1940 when they reached 67 million. During the war, of course, the Federal Government financed most of the 750-million-dollar national total of expenditures for scientific research, directed mainly toward developmental work on implements of war (45). Two years after the end of hostilities, however, the Federal Government was still expending approximately 625 million dollars for scientific research including research in atomic energy (46), and the Federal demand for qualified scientific personnel continued to be greater than the supply in some specialized fields. In 1947, the War and Navy Departments and the Public Health Service were unable to undertake certain research programs because of these shortages (45), and other projects were not completely staffed. The Office of Naval Research alone was spending 70 million dollars to finance scientific, including medical, research in universities and private institutions. In 1947, Federal Government research

Figure 17.-An entomologist checking infection of mosquitoes in a

public health laboratory.