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Appendixes 53
Appendix A The Demographics of Solar Physics AGE DISTRIBUTION Questionnaires eliciting age by decadal grouping were mailed to 275 of the 301 current U.S. members of the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society, which kindly provided address labels for this purpose. This committee received 200 returns 124 from individuals and 76 from respondents who provided information for the solar physics staff members of their institutions (16 returns were excluded because of the possibility of duplicate counting). For clarity, the committee therefore presents the individual and institutional responses separately Cable N1~. The analysis is limited to PhDs. Table A.1 shows a trend that is consistent with recent independent studies of the age distribution of U.S. natural scientists and engineers, namely that these populations are not replacing themselves. WORKPLACE DISTRIBUTION The type of institution employing PhD solar physicists in 1987 is shown in Able N2. Parallel information for PhD astronomers as a whole is also given for comparison. Data for the solar physicists were obtained from the American Astronomical Society's Solar Physics Division mailing list pro- vided to the committee for this report. Data for the type of employment for PhDs working in astronomy were provided by the Education and Em- ployment Division of the American Institute of Physics. Ibble N2 indicates that solar physics researchers are significantly more represented at the few 55
56 TABLE A.1 Age Distribution of PhD Scientists in the Field of Solar Physics Responding to Questionnaires Age Group Questionnaires Returned 20-29 30-39 40~9 50-59 60-69 70 + Total Individual returns 4 35 47 18 15 5 124 Institutional returns 10 19 18 6 6 1 60 Total 14 54 65 24 21 6 184 TABLE A.2 Type of Employment in 1987 for PhDs Working in Solar Physics Compared to That for PhDs Working in Astronomy, by Percent Workplace Solar Physicists Astronomers* University or college 32 58 Industry 10 3 Government 29 18 FFRDC** and research institute 12 21 Other 17 - Total 100 100 *Based on a sample survey conducted by the American Institute of Physics (sample size: 134 for PliDs working in astronomy3. *+FFRDC, federally funded research and development center. Includes 26 non-U.S. scientists and 26 scientists who provided home addresses only and could not be otherwise classified by the committee. government laboratories and underrepresented at the many universities, compared, for example, to astronomers as a whole.