Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Jan 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21714502d&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #217, #145.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Sixteen years ago I conducted a survey of the career trajectories and outcomes of 78 individuals who earned Ph.D.s from the Department of Astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin during the period 1984-1995 (Dinerstein, H. 1996, AAS, 189.0501). In the current poster I extend these statistics up to the present, adding 68 Ph.D. recipients from 1996-2010. This is a sufficiently large sample to search for secular trends such as possible changes in duration of the postdoctoral stage, redistribution of demographics among different kinds of long-term positions, and the emergence of new categories of astronomy-related employment. The picture is less discouraging than one might expect. As of 2010, about 75% of the Texas graduates 7 - 14 years past the Ph.D. are still doing astronomy, and most of those in non-astronomical careers left the field by choice (and often have had considerable success in their alternate careers). Of those 6 years or less past the Ph.D., 50% were in postdoctoral positions and less than 10% had left astronomy. Recent reconsiderations of the employment market (Metcalfe, T.S. 2008, PASP, 120, 229; Seth, A. 2009, Astro2010: The Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey, Position Paper No. 51) make the point that a typical astronomer who ultimately achieves a permanent position will have held two or three prior temporary positions; this was equally true three decades ago. There has been notable growth nationwide in the number of astronomers employed as faculty at small liberal arts colleges and other undergraduate-centered institutions, a trend that to some degree was anticipated by the University of Texas cohort, which included a number of students for whom this was their personal goal. In a world where job certainty is no longer so prevalent, motivated and resourceful astronomers are finding ways to remain active members of our community.
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