National Academies Press: OpenBook
« Previous: 4. Institutional Issues and Policy Recommendations
Suggested Citation:"A: The Demographics of Solar Physics." National Research Council. 1989. The Field of Solar Physics: Review and Recommendations for Ground-Based Solar Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1425.
×
Page 53
Suggested Citation:"A: The Demographics of Solar Physics." National Research Council. 1989. The Field of Solar Physics: Review and Recommendations for Ground-Based Solar Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1425.
×
Page 54
Suggested Citation:"A: The Demographics of Solar Physics." National Research Council. 1989. The Field of Solar Physics: Review and Recommendations for Ground-Based Solar Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1425.
×
Page 55
Suggested Citation:"A: The Demographics of Solar Physics." National Research Council. 1989. The Field of Solar Physics: Review and Recommendations for Ground-Based Solar Research. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/1425.
×
Page 56

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

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.

Next: B: National Science Foundation Funding for Solar Physics »
The Field of Solar Physics: Review and Recommendations for Ground-Based Solar Research Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $40.00
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

Exciting new observational and theoretical advances lead today's solar physicists to challenge many of the predictions of even recent models. This volume summarizes the major questions at the forefront of solar physics theory and observations, and proposes priority recommendations to explore these questions. The study also addresses serious institutional issues that have beset solar physics including the role of the universities in the national solar observations, structural barriers to careers in solar physics, and the leadership role of the federal funding agencies for ground-based solar research.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!