Each year we attempt to contact each person who received a bachelor's degree in physics one year earlier to ask them what they are doing. New degree recipients typically follow one of two paths: enrolling in graduate school or entering the employment market. For the classes of 2011 and 2012 combined, nearly 60% chose to enroll in a graduate…

This paper considers gendered patterns of participation in post-compulsory STEM education. It examines the trajectory of learning that takes students from A-level qualifications, through undergraduate work and into employment or further study. It also uses a long-term view to look at the best available evidence to monitor participation and…

With one glance at the starting salaries of new bachelor's degree recipients in Fig. 1, a teacher or parent can see the career fields to which their high school students interested in the best economic opportunities might aspire: several engineering fields (chemical, electrical, mechanical), computer science, physics, and mathematics.

Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have been endorsed as a powerful instructional tool in higher education; however, relatively little is known about the long-term effects of participation in these programs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the educational enhancements of URE participation from the perspective of practicing…

Presents the results of a survey of engineers in R&D. Reports 1987 pay raises, highest academic degree, salary range, age and experience for 12 engineering fields. Compares these results to other years. Concludes that many variables led to overall gains for metallurgists and biologists and losses for mathematicians and ceramists. (CW)

Estimated supply of secondary biology, chemistry, physics, general science, earth science, and mathematics teachers by state (including American Samoa and Puerto Rico) for 1980-1982 are provided. Data, obtained from state science supervisors, indicates surplus, slight surplus, shortage, critical shortage, or no response in each category for each…

Examines why fewer college graduates from physics and science education departments become secondary school science teachers, what physics teachers encounter once they enter secondary schools, and why physics teachers leave secondary schools. Issues related to the latter area include low salaries, poorly equipped facilities, nonteaching duties,…