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The flight from science reconsidered: Career choice of science and engineering in the 1950's and 1960's
Author(s) -
Reitz Jeffrey G.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
science education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.209
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1098-237X
pISSN - 0036-8326
DOI - 10.1002/sce.3730570203
Subject(s) - philosophy of science , science education , hostility , science and engineering , humanism , social science education , economic science , psychology , social psychology , sociology , social science , mathematics education , engineering ethics , epistemology , political science , engineering , law , philosophy
This paper questions a widespread belief that the trend away from career choices of science and engineering in the early 1960's is attributable to increased student concern with social problems, causing increased hostility to science and technology, and increased desire to study in social science and humanistic disciplines. Evidence from trend surveys suggest that the actual beneficiaries of the “flight from science” and engineering were the professional and managerial fields. Consideration is given to an alternative hypothesis that increasing economic opportunities outside science was one cause. This hypothesis assumes that many economically motivated students have chosen science because they lacked better economic opportunities outside science. Support for this assumption is found in an analysis of survey data on college men in the class of 1961 (N=21687).