piner@pur-phy.UUCP (Richard Piner) (11/15/85)
Posted: Fri Aug 23, 1985 3:47 PM EDT Msg: WGIF-2057-3870
From: RPARK
To: WHATSNEW
CC: RPark
Subj: What's New
WHAT'S NEW, Friday, August 23, 1985 Washington, D.C.
1. FOREIGN NATIONAL SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS IN THE US
LABOR FORCE in the decade from 1972 to 1982 is the subject of
a recent report prepared for the National Science Foundation
by Michael Finn, of the Oak Ridge Associated Universities.
As we noted in a preliminary report in What's New May 10,
some 40% of all new PhD engineers entering the US work force
are foreign nationals. The completed report shows that the
figure is much lower for the physical sciences (about 15%)
and much lower still for the life sciences and social
sciences. Part of the explanation for the large difference
appears to be that the lure of large salaries in engineering
persuades many US citizens to forego the PhD. Foreign
graduates have taken advantage of the reduced competition for
positions requiring a PhD to obtain labor certification.
Foreign national scientists and engineers differ
significantly from US citizens in their type of employer.
The US military does not employ foreign nationals and very
few work in civilian jobs for the US government. Non-profit
organizations, on the other hand, hire above average
proportions of foreigners. The rate of naturalization to US
citizenship is high, with the result that the proportion of
foreign nationals in the science and engineering work force
changed little over the decade of the study. It is clearly a
great strength of the American system that it continues to
attract talented people from all over the world. It is
important, however, that policy makers understand that our
technical enterprise could not operate without this influx.
2. NAVY PERSONNEL WILL ATTEND FEWER SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES
in the next couple of years. A recent message from the
Secretary of the Navy directs all Naval Commands and
Activities who fund attendees and participants, including
speakers, at non-government-sponsored conferences to reduce
their participation by 25% for the remainder of 1985 and by
50% for FY 86. This applies to both military and civilian
personnel. The message cites the cost of attendance as the
justification for the new policy, but it is difficult to
avoid the suspicion that this new isolationism stems from the
Navy's embarrassment over the recent spy scandals.
Robert L. Park
American Physical Society THAT'S ALL 8/22/85