Figure 2 A number of fields in biology will provide students an opportunity to improve the good of humanity.
Trends, Predictions
It is easy to document the changes that have occurred in the past, but it is dangerous to predict even the near future. The 20th century has been a period of exciting maturation for biology, and maturity stimulates a great deal of growth in any field of science. Many believe that the next century, which our students will occupy, will be a "golden age" for biology. A current student of biology must be told that he or she can participate in very exciting times.
But will the job market, responding to quite different stimuli than intellectual excitement, find places for biologists of various sorts? A count of advertisements in a typical weekly issue of Science from 1996 yielded a total of 118 jobs. Compare this with a typical issue from 1973, in which only 26 positions were being offered. This increase of over 400% is encouraging. Of course, the number of qualified college and postcollege graduates has also increased, but not as fast as the job offerings. The unemployment rate for people trained in biology has always been significantly below that of the nation.
Traditionally, jobs for biologists have been found in 3 sectors: academics (secondary and postsecondary schools), government (e.g., NIH and the military), and business (for-profit). Of the 3, academia has been the largest market and business the smallest for biology (as opposed to chemistry, which has always had a large industrial base). A survey of job offerings for biologists in the journal Science indicates that this is changing. Figure 3 shows that, although academia still comprises the largest category for new jobs, it now holds that rank by the slimmest margin. The growth area is in for-profit companies, particularly those engaged in pharmaceutical and genetic engineering activities. Even researchers working primarily in universities often form alliances with companies outside of academia. Inform students of this major change in where the jobs will be when they are ready to take them.
Figure 3 A comparison of biologically oriented jobs advertised in 1973 and 1997 in the journal Science, by category of workplace.
The trend has also been toward the molecular and cellular levels. Of the jobs offered in 1996, 71% were in those areas, whereas only 45% had been there in 1973. Students with the aptitude and training to work on the cellular level have more jobs available to them. In addition, there is some evidence, from statements by executives of biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, that a person trained in physiology, anatomy, and ecology will be valued more highly if he or she is also able to work on the cellular and molecular level. A broad base of training is highly regarded. A person wishing to work only at the whole-organism level or above will still have job opportunities, but will have to look harder and longer and will need excellent skills to compete in an arena with fewer opportunities.
Traditionally, jobs in ecology, wildlife conservation, resource management, etc. have depended a great deal on government funding. That has meant, and will probably continue to mean, that the job market is changeable, following the perceptions of politicians. They, of course, get their cues from the population as a whole; when we decide that preserving our environment is a high priority, scientists in these areas will be adequately funded.
In the area of human health, the trend has been ever upward, with the number of physicians, other deliverers of direct health care, and supporting personnel (including research workers) increasing spectacularly in the past several decades. There are indications that we are approaching a point where this spending trend cannot continue indefinitely. Some medical schools are contemplating reducing their admissions for the MD program, as dental schools have already done. Hospitals are cutting nurses and support personnel to contain costs. Academic support of biomedical research is softening. What of the future?
It is safe to say that the need for health delivery will continue and perhaps accelerate as our population ages and as infectious diseases stage a comeback. Historically, health care and research in biomedicine have been highly supported activities, and our society will probably find a way to continue them---although growth of this area may moderate in the early 21st century.
