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FIGURE 4‐13 Data from the AAS Job Register, showing the number of postdoctoral (red), faculty (green/yellow) and research (blue/cyan) positions advertised from 1992 to 2008. The shaded region of the histogram indicates the number of positions in each category at U.S.‐based institutions after such data became available in 2003. The faculty category is divided into tenure track (green) and non‐tenure track (yellow) positions, while the research category is divided into research (blue) and support (cyan) positions. Data source: AAS. Implications for Employment and Training Training in astronomy research is a good preparation for a wide range of careers. The experience in finding innovative solutions to new problems and the familiarity with cutting edge techniques and tools has very broad appeal to employers, and an astronomer’s education is rarely wasted. Nonetheless, the recent rapid growth in the postdoctoral pool of temporary positions suggests an increased need for advising and mentoring regarding broad career choices, not just in academia but across the education and research enterprise, including careers beyond astronomy. Indeed, there is a strong and urgent need for career mentoring at all stages, from undergraduate to junior faculty member. In addition, it is important to introduce courses into the astronomy curricula that can open doors to new careers. These courses could involve computer science, engineering, project management, public policy or pedagogy, for example, possibly taken in other departments. Often, academic mentors emphasize academic careers for their students at the expense of discussing and supporting a broader range of career opportunities. The committee believes that doctoral training in astronomy prepares the individual for a variety of rewarding and important STEM careers, and that the astronomy community needs to recognize alternate career paths more clearly. PREPUBLICATION COPY—SUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION 4-18
Professional training needs to accommodate the range of career paths taken by graduate and postdoctoral alumni, giving attention to (1) the full range of activities in academic faculty work, including teaching, advising, performing institutional and national service, (2) the non-research skills needed by all researchers, including communicating to the non-specialist and public at large, grant writing and administrating, and project management, (3) necessary high level training in communication and in the increasingly important areas of computation and instrumentation, and (4) career options both within and outside academia. Some of these goals could be achieved through professional master’s programs in astronomy with particular focus. Partnership opportunities with government, industry, media resources, and museums could help broaden astronomy-related experiences through internships in areas such as public policy, computation and instrumentation, pedagogy, science outreach, and communications. RECOMMENDATION: The American Astronomical Society and the American Physical Society, alongside the nation’s astronomy and astrophysics departments, should make both undergraduate and graduate students aware of the wide variety of rewarding career opportunities enabled by their education, and be supportive of students’ career decisions that go beyond academia. These groups should work with the federal agencies to gather and disseminate demographic data on astronomers in the workforce to inform students’ career decisions. Underrepresented Minorities in Astronomy Black Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans constitute 27 percent of the U.S. population. By all measures they are seriously underrepresented among professional astronomers. For example, this cohort accounts for only four percent of astronomy PhDs awarded in the U.S. and three percent of faculty members, and yet these small fractions represent growth. To achieve parity would require increasing the annual rate of minority PhDs in astronomy from around five to a sustained value of about forty over a period of thirty years. 16 There are many reasons why improving these abysmal statistics should be a matter of the highest priority. First, failing to tap into such a large fraction of the population is hurting the country through not accessing a large human resource, and this is a statement applicable also to science in general. Second, because of the prominent position of astronomy in the public eye, the absence of minority role models sends a strongly negative message to young people considering careers in science and engineering. The Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy of the AAS works as both a focus and information dissemination group for these important issues and as a support/mentoring group for minority members of the AAS. There have been many well-intentioned and thoughtful programs over the past decades to increase minority representation in astronomy and other scientific fields, but they have not yet succeeded in achieving the goal of equal representation in the PhD scientific workforce. There has been some success in increasing the number of minorities who obtain bachelor’s degrees in science and engineering, 16 Nelson, D., & Lopez, L., 2004, “The Diversity of Tenure Track Astronomy Faculty,” American Astronomical Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy, Spectrum Newsletter, June 2004; the AIP Academic Workforce Survey; and the AIP Statistical Research Center. For comparison, 2007 AIP data notes that 5,402 U.S. citizens received PhDs and 13% were awarded to minorities (http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/highlite/edphysund/table8.htm; last accessed on July 7, 2010) and of the 653 physics PhD’s awarded to U.S. citizens 13% were minorities (http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/highlite/edphysgrad/table6.htm; last accessed on July 7, 2010). In 2007, across all disciplines, including non-science disciplines, the number of faculty positions held by African Americans or Hispanic Americans was about 11%, and about 5% in physics disciplines (http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/highlite/awf08/table1a.htm; last accessed on July 7, 2010). PREPUBLICATION COPY—SUBJECT TO FURTHER EDITORIAL CORRECTION 4-19
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fi
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COMMITTEE FOR A DECADAL SURVEY OF A
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Panel on Stars and Stellar Evolutio
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DOUGLAS FINKBEINER, Harvard Univers
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SPACE STUDIES BOARD CHARLES F. KENN
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activities 2 that have emerged from
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In addition to the 27 panel meeting
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Acknowledgment of Reviewers This re
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The Accelerating Universe 2-26 The
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APPENDIXES A Summary of Science Fro
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light up the universe, marking the
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RECOMMENDED PROGRAM Maintaining a b
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TABLE ES.4 Space: Recommended Activ
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Cosmic Dawn: Searching for the Firs
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this imprint would both probe funda
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important outcome will be to open u
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estimated to be on the order of $20
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observatories. For NASA an annual b
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surveys of large fields, enabling s
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RECOMMENDATION: U.S. investors in a
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departments and the community as a
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dominate spending; (2) private-publ
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us was certainly evident during the
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BOX 2-1 Other Worlds Around Other S
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FIGURE 2‐2 The source 3C 75, show
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FIGURE 2‐3 Numerical simulation o
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FIGURE 2‐4 Left panel: Image of t
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FIGURE 2‐6 Top: Schematic of the
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Most stars with masses smaller than
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BOX 2-2 The Origin of Planets After
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send material raining into the cent
Page 68 and 69: BOX 2-4 Lifecycles in Galaxies One
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Page 80 and 81: Studying the properties of neutron
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Page 88 and 89: are increasingly relevant. The Euro
Page 90 and 91: TABLE 3-1 Currently Operating OIR F
Page 92 and 93: 29% 1990 44% US Priv US Fed Other E
Page 94 and 95: CONCLUSION: Complex and high-cost f
Page 96 and 97: Space Observatories The Laser Inter
Page 98 and 99: Physics Division (PHY); the Mathema
Page 101 and 102: 4 Astronomy in Society Astronomy of
Page 103 and 104: FIGURE 4‐2 The dust sculptures of
Page 105 and 106: FIGURE 4‐5 President Obama takes
Page 107 and 108: Astronomy Inspires in the Classroom
Page 109 and 110: teaching the scientific method. The
Page 111 and 112: where the fraction of astronomers h
Page 113 and 114: Percentage of AAS Membership by Fie
Page 115 and 116: 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 PL SO IM AG SF IN S
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Page 121: assistant and associate professor p
Page 124 and 125: fluctuating level of funding for as
Page 126 and 127: THEORY Emerging Trends in Theoretic
Page 128 and 129: Central to the Galaxies across Cosm
Page 130 and 131: TABLE 5‐2 Support for astrophysic
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Page 134 and 135: FIGURE 5‐7 Highly cited HST publi
Page 136 and 137: y optical and radio astronomers are
Page 138 and 139: FIGURE 5‐8 Number of PhDs per yea
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Page 144 and 145: FIGURE 5‐9 The richness of the su
Page 146 and 147: RECOMMENDATION: NASA and NSF suppor
Page 148 and 149: FIGURE 6‐1. All sky map as observ
Page 150 and 151: FIGURE 6‐3 NASA mission cost over
Page 152 and 153: FIGURE 6‐5 Gemini North with Sout
Page 154 and 155: TOWARD FUTURE PROJECTS, MISSIONS, A
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Page 158 and 159: etween several competing elements i
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Page 163 and 164: FIGURE 7.1 Survey time line showing
Page 165 and 166: SCIENCE OBJECTIVES FOR THE DECADE T
Page 167 and 168: Box 7.1 Implementing a Cosmic Dawn
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JWST, with its superb mid-infrared
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optical imaging of brighter galaxie
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Box 7.3 Implementing the Physics of
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FIGURE 7.2 Multiwavelength images o
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Recommendations for New Space Activ
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FIGURE 7.4 Science accomplishments
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significance of mergers in the buil
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independent advice committee review
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committee review. It could range be
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Laboratory Astrophysics As describe
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Recommendations for New Ground-Base
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Program for instrumentation and fac
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excel at high spectral and spatial
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The committee reviewed a technical
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FIGURE 7.10 ACTA would be, like the
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Advanced Technologies and Instrumen
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LISA as soon as possible subject to
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FIGURE 7.14 DOE recommended program
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A Summary of Science Frontiers Pane
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PLANETARY SYSTEMS AND STAR FORMATIO
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A preliminary recommended program w
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certified as independent work perfo
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penalty based on an assessment of s
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The results show excellent correlat
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$12 MILLION TO $40 MILLION RANGE CM
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decadal research strategy with reco
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CFP CHIPSat CIP CGRO CMB CMU CoBRA
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NRC NSB NSF NSF-AGS NSF-ARC NSF-AST
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