The research described in this dissertation proposal will examine a variety of influences on the process of becoming a scientist. A series of sophisticated multivariate analyses will be carried out using several existing data sets: the 1962 and 1973 Postcensal Study of Professional and Technical Manpower; several panels of the Survey of Science and Engineering Graduates (the NSF New Entrants Study); and both 1962 and 1973 Occupational Changes in a Generation Survey. Influences on this process which will be studied include demographic factors (such as race/ethnicity, gender, birth cohort), socioeconomic factors (parents' education, occupational status), other background variables (father a scientist) and ability. The process itself will be represented by such variables as the expressed aspirations for becoming a scientist upon high school graduation, whether students remain science majors or change into or out of a science major during college, the likelihood of attaining a college degree in science, the likelihood of continuing on in science after completing a bachelor's or master's level science degree, and the likelihood of moving into adjacent science fields following graduation from college. The project should make a major contribution to our theoretical and empirical understanding of how social factors shape some of the events between high school and mid-career which take place among students who may potentially become college educated scientists. This research should inform efforts to address current and expected shortages of science personnel, male or female.
