Where do all the oceanographers go? Career paths in oceanography

with focus on data from Physical Oceanography With Lisa Gerber, Susan Lozier, Renellys Perez, Amelia Shevell, Laurie Sindlinger,

What kind of data is available?

• • • • NSF 2009: survey of doctorate recipients – Physical Scientists – Geoscientists NSF 2008: doctorate completion surveys – Oceanographers O’Connell and Holmes (two papers) – Geoscientists – Oceanographers MPOWIR data – Current makeup of PO faculty – Survey of PO doctorate recipients

NSF survey of doctorate recipients: geosciences vs. other physical sciences by employment sector

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Physical Sciences Earth Atmos/Ocean Sciences

Data taken from: NSF 2009 (note response rate 78%)

Geosciences:

Earth/Atmospheric/Ocean Sciences

Physical Sciences:

Astronomy/Astrophysics, Chemistry except biochemistry, Earth/Atmospheric/Ocean Sciences, Physics

Percentage in job types at academic institutions in PO (2006):

55% in tenure track, 45% in research track 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Assistant Prof Associate Prof Full ProfessorRes. Assistant Res.

Associate Res. Full Institutions: WHOI, RSMAS, URI, UW, SIO, OSU, Lamont, FSU, NC State, Texas A&M, Rutgers, Old Dominion, UH, NC State, U of Alaska, U of Maine, UNC, 21 women and 26 men

What is the job distribution of PO PhDs?

• Found the names of all PhD graduates available from 6 institution starting ~ 1980 (total 349, 257 men and 92 women, all but 10 men and 1 woman were tracked, UW, SIO, OSU, WHOI, RSMAS, URI ) • Based on 2001-2005 data from 17 institutions, this represents about half of all PhDs in PO • Determined current occupation (as of fall 2009, primarily through internet searches)

Percentage in each job category PO PhDs: the plurality in tenure track positions with many in research faculty and government positions

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Tenure track Research Faculty Government Industry Research Staff and Instructor Other

Percentage of women and men by job category in PO after post-doc

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Tenure track Research Faculty Government Industry Research Staff and Instructor Other Male Female

What these results tells us

• There are many career paths that physical oceanographers can take with the vast majority using their PhDs • Physical oceanographers are more likely to be employed by government than by industry • Research faculty positions are as common as tenure track positions • Gender differences exist in career paths

References

• • • • O’Connell, S. and M. A. Holmes, 2005, Women of the academy and the sea, Oceanography, 18, 12-24 Holmes, M. A., S. O’Connell, C. Frey and L. Ongley, 2008, Gender imbalance in US geoscience academia, Nature Geoscience, 1, 79-82. National Science Foundation, Division of Science Resources Statistics. 2009. Characteristics of Doctoral Scientists and Engineers in the United States: 2006. Detailed Statistical Tables, NSF 09-317. Arlington, VA. National Science Foundation, 2008 Division of Science Resources Statistics, special tabulations of U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Completions Survey, 1998–2007.