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Session 64 - Getting & Holding a Job with an Astronomy Degree.
Oral session, Tuesday, January 16
La Condesa, Hilton
What is the astronomical workforce like? Where do astronomers work? How old are they? How permanent are their jobs? As we move into a period of increased uncertainty in federal funding for science it is important to know the answers to these questions. There are four sources of information for answers:
1. Information from the AAS membership database. 2. A survey of the AAS membership. 3. Surveys of samples of the AAS membership by AIP. 4. Information from the NRC and NSF.
We have gender and age data from 1. A survey of the AAS membershWe will have age and gender data from 1. We will complete and analyze a new membersip survey shortly. The latest AIP data is from 1994. They will do a new sample in 1996. Much of the NRC data is aggregated with physics, and that does not give information about astronomers. Nevertheless, we do have some interesting information.
The ages and genders of AAS members are avalable for 1972, 1990 qnd 1995. The time sequence provides an interesting look at the AAS. For instance, from 1990 to 1995 the number of women in each 5-year age group below the the age of 65 increased. Contrary to popular perception, women are not leaving the Society as they get older. However, the number of men actually decreased in each age group above the age of 35. This and other interesting trends will be discussed.
