5
Profiles of Scientists and Engineers and an Aging Workforce
Complementing the main focus of the day’s proceedings, the second panel focused on overall profiles of the science and engineering (S&E) workforce and introduced a discussion of entrepreneurship and career paths among an aging workforce. The panel included presentations by Sally Rockey of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Emilda Rivers of the National Science Foundation (NSF), and Jeff Makowka of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and was moderated by Tyrone Taylor of Capital Advisors on Technology, who is a member of the committee studying the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. While the panel did not focus on SBIR and STTR, it provided further context for the day’s discussion. Dr. Rockey and Dr. Rivers described, respectively, the career paths of the biomedical workforce and of employed scientists and engineers, by age group, gender, and field. Of note, each described gender gaps, and Dr. Rockey added that only 2-3 percent of NIH grants’ principal investigators are minorities. Finally, in the context of the discussion on an aging workforce, Mr. Makowka described the advantages and challenges faced by older entrepreneurs generally and AARP efforts to encourage entrepreneurship among those ages 50 years and over.
The content of the discussion and issues and recommendations raised by speakers is summarized below.
Sally Rockey
National Institutes of Health
Leading off the second panel, Sally Rockey of the National Institutes of Health discussed findings from a study by the NIH of the biomedical workforce1 that was designed to identify the sectors in which biomedical students end up working.
The number of biomedical PhDs has risen dramatically along with the doubling of the NIH budget from $13 billion in 1998 to $27 billion in 2003, reported Dr. Rockey. Over the past decade, the agency’s annual budget has hovered around $30 billion, and today the NIH primarily supports students through research grants. About 27 percent of NIH grants support female researchers, in contrast to the 55 percent of biomedical students and trainees who are women. Only 2 percent to 3 percent of NIH grants’ principal investigators are minorities.
Summarizing the study’s findings, Dr. Rockey explained: Biomedical students spend about six and half to seven years to get their PhDs by age 30 or 31, their first postdoc by age 35 or 36, and their first NIH grant by age 42, an age that generally involves significant family responsibilities. In comparison, chemistry students tend to earn their PhDs at age 29 and their postdocs at age 33. The lag in biomedicine milestones can make a difference in career path selection.
In addition, the biomedical workforce is getting older. In 1980, the average age of NIH principal investigators was 36 or 37. In 2010, the average age was 53 or 54, and 10 percent of NIH principal investigators were ages 65 and over. Yet, scientists tend to be most productive in their younger years. Most Nobel Prize winners, for example, come up with their winning ideas when in their 30s.
Lengthy biomedical training also depresses career earnings compared with other fields, she noted. Over the course of a lifetime, business students earn 33 percent to 50 percent more than scientists overall, because they start earning at a younger age, and ten years after graduation, biomedical researchers still make less than those who pursue other sciences, but their relative earnings even out after 30 years.
The most notable results of the study, she said, focus on the sectors in which U.S.-trained biomedical PhDs end up working: 18 percent in industry, 43 percent in academia, including nonresearch lecture and teaching positions, 6 percent in government, and 18 percent in research management. Expectations for the percentage in academia were higher.
An upsurge in foreign PhDs, aging of the biomedical workforce, and low salaries make academia a difficult destination, she argued. To address this challenge, the NIH launched the Broadening Experiences in Science Training program (BEST) to fund 25 organizations at $250,000 a year to think about how
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1Many of the statistics cited by Dr. Rockey in this section are from Biomedical Research Workforce Working Group Report, Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, June 14, 2012.
to broaden training for scientists to enter industry, government, academia, and science-related fields. The hope is to apply best practices from these organizations, including collaboration between academia and the entrepreneurial private sector, more broadly.
Emilda Rivers
National Science Foundation
Emilda Rivers of the National Science Foundation reported findings from the NSF’s Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System (SESTAT) 2003 and 2010 sample surveys, representing 21 million individuals under age 76 living in the United States with a bachelor’s or more advanced degree in science and engineering (S&E) or a science and engineering-related (S&E-related) field or working in science and engineering.
Dr. Rivers noted that in 2003 the proportions of men and women among employed scientists and engineers were about even under age 30, but the relative proportion of employed men was higher in cohorts for age 30 and above. The largest gender gap occurred for ages 60 to 75, she said. In 2010, the gender gap narrowed for ages 30 and over, but the overall number of individuals employed at ages 60 to 65 is much higher.
The age trends were more pronounced among scientists and engineers working in S&E vs. non-S&E fields, Dr. Rivers noted. For engineers, little difference exists between age groups working in engineering. But most scientists working in science were ages 30 to 49, corresponding to NIH data described by the previous speaker. Of course, non-S&E occupations can include those in management in S&E-work.
In 2003, by sector, categorized as academia, government, and business/ industry, including self-employed, incorporated and non-incorporated, a greater number of individuals worked in business/industry. Among PhD holders only, a larger number of individuals worked in academia. The 2010 data showed a similar pattern, except more of those ages 60 to 75 worked in business.
Jeff Makowka
American Association of Retired Persons
Jeff Makowka of the American Association of Retired Persons explained that he manages AARP’s Innovation@50+ initiative to spur innovation to meet the needs of those ages 50 and over. AARP also works on supporting those over age 59 who are creating new businesses. Mr. Makowka noted that every day 10,000 U.S. baby boomers turn age 65 and that at age 65 many are still energetic. According to a study by AARP and the Kauffman Foundation, those over age 65 create small businesses at twice the rate of those ages 54 to 55.
Mr. Makowka indicated that older entrepreneurs often possess several qualities that augur well for entrepreneurial success, including wisdom accumulated through the years, assets and savings, and potential funding through well-established networks. Yet, they also may face disadvantages compared to younger entrepreneurs. Many find it more difficult to acquire new skills, for example. Older entrepreneurs also have less time to recuperate from failure, sometimes lack the humility needed to learn from the inevitable mistakes they will make in a new business, and possess less flexibility either to hang onto an idea or to pivot, as the situation demands, he said. Of course, entrepreneurship also requires a personality that withstands challenges and setbacks, said Mr. Makowka.
To encourage 50+ entrepreneurship where it makes sense, Mr. Makowka said that AARP provides Web resources through a strategic partnership with the Small Business Administration. It also sponsors pilot workshops, including Spanish language programs, in three cities in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation. AARP makes available its Life Reimagined and Work Reimagined tools at local workshops. Its annual member meeting provides another opportunity for access to entrepreneurship workshops and tools.
Entrepreneurship among this population offers many benefits, said Mr. Makowka. The extension of workers’ careers delays the drawdown in Social Security, while keeping older Americans more actively engaged with society.
DISCUSSION
Dr. Wessner, then of the National Research Council, asked whether the NIH is considering changing rules to allow faculty to receive credit toward tenure for their SBIR work and whether the agency actively encourages SBIR applications as part of postdoc grants. He also asked whether the program evaluates faculty by whether their postdocs apply for SBIR awards.
Dr. Rockey said that faculty members are envisioned to participate in the new grant program, so they can train students. She said it was too early to know what proposals will come forward, but the program could conceivably consider SBIR activities as a measure of success. She said that the challenge is keeping biomedical PhDs interested in research. Moreover, the NIH understands the need to encourage undergraduate, not just graduate students, to pursue biomedical sciences.
Andrew Reynolds of the State Department asked whether government statistics include salaries, especially for those in business or Wall Street careers, to determine whether higher pay is an incentive to leave.
Dr. Rivers replied that NSF’s data include salary distributions across all the categories studied and that NSF also collects that data in the Survey of Earned Doctorates of all PhDs in the United States. Survey respondents can write in their position description and title.
