Production of Doctorates in the Biosciences, 1975-1980: An Experimental Forecast. Higher Education Panel Reports, No. 34.

Higher Education Panel, American Council on Education, One Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C. 20036

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National Science Foundation, Washington, DC.
National Institutes of Health (DHEW), Bethesda, MD.
Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, DC.

Anatomy; Biochemistry; Biological Sciences; Biology; Biophysics; Botany; Cytology; Degrees (Academic); Departments; Doctoral Degrees; Ecology; Enrollment Projections; Enrollment Trends; Entomology; Federal Aid; Genetics; Graduate Study; Higher Education; Microbiology; National Surveys; Nutrition; Pathology; Pharmaceutical Education; Physiology; Private Colleges; State Universities; Zoology

A survey was undertaken in 1976 to obtain short-term estimates of doctorate production directly from the heads of the science departments involved. These biosciences departments were surveyed in the 235 member institutions of the Higher Education Panel that grant doctorates: anatomy, biochemistry, biology, biometry/biostatistics/biomathematics, biophysics, botany, cell biology, ecology, entomology/parasitology, genetics, human pathology, microbiology, nutrition, pharmacology/toxicology, physiology, zoology, and others. The overall response rate was 93 percent. According to the aggregated responses doctorate production will increase 59 percent over the rest of the decade, with a sharp rise in both private and public institutions. The largest numerical gain is anticipated for public institutions, which currently account for nearly three-fourths of all biosciences doctorates awarded. Almost one-fourth of the doctorates in 1975-76 were awarded by the 20 institutions receiving the highest level of National Institutes of Health research support. Fields that accounted for the greatest numbers of doctorates were biology and biochemistry. Other findings are presented in narrated and tabular form. (MSE)

1978

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