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Science and Engineering Careers in the United States

An Analysis of Markets and Employment

Beginning in the early 2000s, there was an upsurge of national concern over the state of the science and engineering job market that sparked a plethora of studies, commission reports, and a presidential initiative, all stressing the importance of maintaining American competitiveness in these fields. Science and Engineering Careers in the United States is the first major academic study to probe the issues that underlie these concerns.

This volume provides new information on the economics of the postgraduate science and engineering job market, addressing such topics as the factors that determine the supply of PhDs, the career paths they follow after graduation, and the creation and use of knowledge as it is reflected by the amount of papers and patents produced. A distinguished team of contributors also explores the tensions between industry and academe in recruiting graduates, the influx of foreign-born doctorates, and the success of female doctorates. Science and Engineering Careers in the United States will raise new questions about stimulating innovation and growth in the American economy.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

            Richard B. Freeman and Daniel L. Goroff

I. Supply of Students and Postdoctoral Fellows to Science and Engineering

1.      Supporting “The Best and Brightest” in Science and Engineering: NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

      Richard B. Freeman, Tanwin Chang, and Hanley Chiang

2.      Internationalization of U.S. Doctorate Education

      John Bound, Sarah Turner, and Patrick Walsh

3.      Improving the Postdoctoral Experience: An Empirical Approach

      Geoff Davis

II. Careers in Changing Markets

4.      Immigration in High-Skill Labor Markets: The Impact of Foreign Students on the Earnings of Doctorates

      George J. Borjas

5.      Does Science Promote Women? Evidence from Academia 1973–2001

      Donna K. Ginther and Shulamit Kahn

6.      Patterns of Male and Female Scientific Dissemination in Public and Private Science

      Kjersten Bunker Whittington

7.      Educational Mismatch among Ph.D.s: Determinants and Consequences

      Keith A. Bender and John S. Heywood

8.   Capturing Knowledge: The Location Decision of New Ph.D.s Working in Industry

      Albert J. Sumell, Paula E. Stephan, and James D. Adams

III. Creation and Use of Knowledge

9.   Instruments of Commerce and Knowledge: Probe Microscopy, 1980-2000   

      Cyrus C. M. Mody

10.  International Knowledge Flows: Evidence from an Inventor-Firm Matched Data Set

      Jinyoung Kim, Sangjoon John Lee, and Gerald Marschke

11.  The Growing Allocative Inefficiency of the U.S. Higher Education Sector

      James D. Adams and J. Roger Clemmons

Contributors

Author Index

Subject Index

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