1999 Initial Employment Report: Follow-Up of 1998 Physics and Astronomy Degree Recipients. AIP Report.

This report is based on an annual survey of physics degree recipients conducted approximately 6 months after the end of the academic year in which they received their degrees. During the 1997-1998 academic year, there were 1,323 physics Ph.D.s conferred at the 183 departments granting physics doctorates in the United States. Departments reported that a little more than half of the degrees were conferred on U.S. citizens, and 13% of degree recipients were women. For the class of 1997-1998, the proportion of new doctorates who were unemployed and seeking work in the United States was 2%, down from a recent high of 6% for the classes of 1993 and 1994. Although some newer physicists filled industrial sector technical jobs, two-fifths of degree recipients who accepted a temporary postdoctoral appointment and almost three-quarters of those in other temporary positions indicated that a suitable permanent position was not available. In the class of 1997-1998, there were 3,821 physics bachelor's degrees awarded at 753 degree granting physics departments in the United States. The responses of 1,130 of these graduates indicate that about half chose to continue their education at the graduate level, and about half entered directly into the workforce. Industry was by far the largest employer. Findings suggest that the job market for new physics bachelors is very diverse. A little more than half of the recipients of master's degrees entered the workforce, and, as with bachelor's degree recipients, their work activities were diverse. About two-thirds indicated that their positions were moderately or extensively related to the field of physics. (Contains 17 figures.) (SLD)