Geoscience Currents #59: Geoscience Academic Provenance II (3 of 3): Assessing Students' Intrinsic Motivation toward Pursuing the Geosciences
As part of her Geoscience Academic Provenance research, Houlton collected quantitative data from her participants. During the initial and follow-up studies, participants answered a Likert-based survey about how they felt toward the geosciences on a scale from 1 to 7. Responses were aggregated between the two studies which illuminated changes over time in students' attitudes for pursuing the geosciences. See Currents #59 to read more.
Geoscience Currents #58: Geoscience Academic Provenance II (2 of 3): Emigrants: A New Population Group
In addition to the Natives, Immigrants and Refugees Population Groups (see Geoscience Currents #46), Houlton identified an additional one that discusses attrition in the geoscience major. View Geoscience Currents #58 to gain some insight into why students leave geoscience programs before graduation.
Geoscience Currents #57: Geoscience Academic Provenance II (1 of 3): Similarities and Differences between Population Groups
Houlton’s 2009-2010 study mapped out geoscience students’ pathways for becoming a geoscience major and what types of careers they hope to pursue in the future (see Geoscience Currents #45-48). A follow-up study was conducted in late 2011 with 13 of the same 17 participants from the original study. Geoscience Currents #57 discusses the similarities and differences between population groups in the context of their changing pathways from the original study. Look for Currents #58 and #59 as part of this series.
Now Online!
GeoConnection Webinar - Career Series
Canadian Exploration- High Demands for the Future Workforce
Join us to listen to the following speakers discuss careers in Canadian mineral exploration.
Dr. Martha Roberts, from MiHR, will discuss labour market findings from the exploration study "Unearthing Possibilities".
Scott Jobin-Bevans, from PDAC, will speak about what's happening on the ground in the minerals exploration sector, including what PDAC and S-IMEW are. What are the big changes coming up for companies? What's exciting for new earth/geoscience graduates in the sector and why they should consider a career in minerals exploration?
Student Panel: Listen our student panel (April Bertrand, Blake Schreiner) discuss why they have chosen this educational path, what they find exciting about this field, and where they hope their careers will take them.
Melanie Sturk, from MiHR, will wrap up our discussion by introducing the Explore for More career resources.
This webinar has been co-organized with the Mining Industry Human Resources Council (MiHR)
Webinar co-sponsors:
Australian Institute of Geoscientists
Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada
Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.
Geoscience Currents #55: U.S. Field Camp Attendance Continues Upward Climb
Attendance at U.S. fi eld camps reached 2,525 in 2011, up 10 percent from 2010. Recent increases in fi eld camp attendance are attributed to both increased overall attendance as well as the addition of new and existing fi eld camps to the U.S. Field Camp database. Overall attendance has increased steadily for those departments who have consistently reported data for the past five and 10 years: +37 percent over the past fi ve years and +53 percent over the past 10 years. Read more in Currents #55.
Now Online!
Geoscience Currents Discussion Webinar:
Salary Trends and Employment Projections for Geoscience Careers. Watch this webinar for an in-depth discussion of Currents 49-53.
Geoscience Currents #54: GeoConnection Recruitment Packets: Getting Students Involved in the Geoscience Community
AGI's GeoConnection Recruitment Packets are a recruitment tool for departments to engage students in the geoscience community. Packets are distributed nation wide and offer 5 free, 1-year memberships to geoscience professional societies. Interested in participating? Read more in Currents #54.
Geoscience Currents #53: Employment Projections for Geoscience-related Occupations
(2008-2018)
Employment in geoscience-related occupations is expected to grow about 23 percent between 2008 and 2018, which is much faster than the average growth of all U.S. occupations (10%). Environmental engineers are expected to see the largest growth in number of new jobs with a 31 percent growth rate, while geoscience engineering managers are expected to see the smallest growth at 10 percent. Employment growth for aggregated geoscience-related occupations will be most robust in the professional, scienti_c, and technical services sector (50%) and the waste management sector (32%). ** Note that these projections do not factor in replacement needs due to attrition.
Read more in Geoscience Currents #53.
Geoscience Currents #52: Employment Growth in Geoscience-related Occupations Over the Past Decade
Between 2001 and 2010, employment in geoscience-related occupations has increased by 29% with the
largest growth occurring in petroleum engineering occupations (+147%). Over the past year, aggregate employment in geoscience-related occupations has remained relatively steady. A few occupations (environmental engineers, mining and geological engineers, environmental scientists, geoscientists, and hydrologists) have seen a slight contraction in occupational employment between 2009 and 2010. Employment increased between 2009 and 2010 for geoscience natural science managers (+15%), geographers (+11%), and petroleum engineers (+10%). Read more in Geoscience Currents #52.
Geoscience Currents #51: 2010 Salaries for Geoscience-related Occupations by Industry
In 2010, average aggregated salaries for geoscience-related occupations ranged from $137,660 for geoscience-related occupations in the fi nance and insurance industry to $69,949 for geoscience-related occupations in state government. Salary ranges for the aggregated occupations were as narrow as $26,250 for geoscience-related occupations in the health care industry ($102,640-$76,390) to as
wide as $96,960 for geoscience-related occupations in the fi nance and insurance industry ($179,610-
$82,650). Read more in Geoscience Currents #51.
Geoscience Currents #50: Geoscience Salaries Compared to Other Science Occupations
Geoscience Currents #50 compares salary trends for geoscience-related occupations, chemists, physicists, and biological/life science occupations from 1999 to 2010, including how these salaries have changed over the past year and past decade. Salaries for chemists, physicists and biological/life scientists primarily fall with the range of geoscience-related occupational salaries. Over the past decade, however, salaries for geoscience-related occupations have grown as fast or faster than salaries for chemists, physicists and biological/life scientists. Read more in Geoscience Currents #50.
Geoscience Currents #49: Salaries for Geoscience-related Occupations Increase by 1.1% between 2009 and 2010
Despite the lagging U.S. economy, salaries for aggregated geoscience-related occupations increased by 1.1 percent between 2009 and 2010. Aggregated salaries for all life, physical and social science occupations decreased by 0.9 percent while salaries for all U.S. occupations only increased by 0.2 percent between 2009 and 2010. (Note, all salaries were normalized to 2010 dollars). In 2010, the top salaries for geoscience-related occupations were for natural science managers ($129,320), petroleum engineers ($127,970), and engineering managers ($125,900), and geoscientists ($93,380). Mean annual salaries for environmental scientists ($67,810) were $1,420 greater than national average for other science occupations. Read more in Geoscience Currents #49.
August 23, 2011, 1:00-1:30 pm US EDT
Geoscience Currents Discussion
Currents #45-48: Geoscience Academic Provenance
We will be disscussing Houlton's (2010) "pathway model" and how it applies to recruitment and retention strategies for the geosciences. This webinar is co-sponsored by the Australian Institute of Geoscientists.
Geoscience Currents #48: Academic Provenance 4 of 4: Mapping Geoscience Student Populations' Pathways
Houlton (2010) found that different geoscience student populations followed distinct pathways in their academic and career trajectories. Academic Provenance Analysis illuminates the similarities and differences between populations' pathways and career goals, which may inform recruitment and retention efforts for different geoscience sectors. See Currents #48 for the full synopsis.
Geoscience Currents #47: Academic Provenance: 3 of 4 Critical Incidents
Houlton (2010) used Critical Incident Methodology to identify reasons why students choose to pursue a geoscience major. Fourteen incidents were found within two pathway steps (see Currents 45-46): Pre-College and College. Currents #47 explains these reasons and how critical incidents act on behavior. Read more in Geoscience Currents #47.
Geoscience Currents #46: Academic Provenance: 2 of 4
Geoscience Student Populations: Natives, Immigrants and Refugees
Geoscience Currents #46 discusses the student populations found within Houlton's (2010) 'pathway model' and illuminates similarities and differences between groups of students. Analysis of populations' pathways allows for targeted recruitment and retention efforts. Read more in Geoscience Currents #46.
Geoscience Currents #45: Academic Provenance: 1 of 4 'Pipeline' vs. 'Pathway' Models
Geoscience Currents #45 discusses a newly developed 'pathway model' (Houlton, 2010) which examines the reasons students pursue the geosciences as a college major. Furthermore, the pathway model has strong implications for focusing recruitment and retention efforts in academia and industry. Read more in Geoscience Currents #45.
Geoscience Currents #44: College Admissions Survey: Acceptance of High School Earth Science Courses
Geoscience Currents #44 examines premiliminary data from a survey of four-year institutions of higher learning regarding the acceptance of high school Earth science courses as part of the admissions process. As of May 8, 2011, 226 schools responded. The preliminary results indicate that 77.0% of the surveyed institutions accept high school Earth science courses, but there can be conditions on that acceptance. Almost 1/3 of those schools stating they accept an Earth science course for admission require that it must be “laboratory-based.” To date, only 5.8 percent of schools responding to the survey do not accept an Earth science course for college admission. Read more in Geoscience Currents #44.
April 21, 2011: 1:00 - 2:00 pm (US EDT) - now online!
GeoConnection Webinar - Career Series
Geoscience Careers in Minerals Exploration
Join us to listen to the following speakers discuss geoscience careers in minerals exploration including:
1 ) How to prepare yourself for a career in minerals exploration. Find out what type of academic background recruiters are looking for in geoscience graduates.
2) An overview of the minerals exploration industry including an explanation of what a junior exploration company does vs. an intermediate sized or major exploration / mining company. Find out what career paths exist in the different types of companies.
3) The future outlook for employment opportunities in the minerals exploration industry.
Webinar co-sponsors:
PreCambrian Research Center, University of Minnesota, Duluth
Australian Institute of Geoscientists
MiHR (Mining Industry Human Resources Council)
Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration
Society of Economic Geologists
Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada
GeoConnection Webinar - Now Online!
A Secure Future for Energy, Environment and Hazard Mitigation: Retaining students through the Student-to-Professional Continuum in the Geosciences.
Geoscience Currents #43: Key Issues from the Earth Systems Science Education Summit. The American Geological Institute (AGI) hosted the first Earth System Science (ESS) Education Summit in Houston, Texas, on February 8-11, 2010. Forty-two representatives of AGI member societies and key partners met to discuss and address key issues facing the K-12 geoscience education community. This Geoscience Currents summarizes the key issues identified by the K-12 geoscience education community as well as the big ideas put forward by the community and the actions that the group has committed to take to address these issues. Read more in Geoscience Currents #43.
Currents #42: 2010 Geoscience Workforce Age Demographics. The majority of geoscientists in the workforce are within 15 years of retirement age, and data from federal sources, professional societies, and industry indicate a growing imbalance in the age of geoscientists in the profession. Over the past three years, marked shifts in the age demographics for geoscientists in academica and the federal government have been witnessed. Between 2008 and 2010, there was an overall expansion in the ranks of assistant professors and in professor emerti, and a concurrent decrease in the number of full professors. In the federal government, the percentage of geoscientists 50 years old or older has increased since 2007. Furthermore, the majority of geoscience occupations in the federal government show no marked increase in the percentage of early-career geoscientists under the age of 40. Read more in Geoscience Currents #42.
New GeoConnection Webinars now online!
Did you miss one of the recent GeoConnection Webinars? We just posted the "Geoscientists in the Finance Sector" and "Engaging Geoscience Alumni as Career Resources" webinars on AGI's GeoWebinar site.
Geoscience Currents #41: Declines in Federal Funding of Geoscience Research.
The percentage of all federal funding for research and development applied to the geosciences decreased from nearly 11% in 1996 to 6% in 2007, where it has held steady ever since. The total amount of federal research funding for geoscience research steadily increased between 1970 and 2004, peaking at $3.74 billion dollars. Since 2004, funding has steadily decreased, and in 2009 total federal research funding for geoscience research was $3.35 billion dollars. Total funding for geoscience research at universities peaked in 2004 at $1.1 billion dollars and decreased to $966 million dollars in 2007. Read more in Geoscience Currents #41.
February 15, 2011 (1:00-2:00 pm US EST)
GeoConnection Webinar
Engaging Geoscience Alumni as Career Resources
Join us to listen to faculty and alumni from the geoscience departments at St. Lawrence University and Georgia Southern University discuss strategies for reaching out and engaging geoscience department alumni as career resources.
This webinar will focus on the steps these departments have taken to stay in touch with alumni and get them involved in providing career information for their students (e.g. providing talks in geoscience courses, participating in a Geoscience Career Day or Fair, interacting with students at a department open house day, actively mentoring students, etc.).
Geoscience Currents #40: Starting Salaries for 2010 Graduates.
Geoscience Currents #40 examines data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers 2010 Fall Salary Survey pertaining to the starting salary offers of geoscience graduates at all degree levels in comparison to other science and arts graduates. At the bachelor's level, geoscience graduates received average salary offers ranging between $37,431 for geological and related sciences majors to $77,278 for petroleum engineering majors. A Master's degree is required for most geoscience occupations. Starting salary offers in 2010 for geological and related sciences averaged $56,689 for Master's degree recipients and $58,625 for doctorates. In geoscience-related engineering disciplines, salary offers for Master’s degree recipients ranged from $86,769 for mining engineering to $96,000 for petroleum engineering. Read more in Geoscience Currents #40.
September 21, 2010: 1:00-2:00pm (US EDT)
GeoConnection Webinar - Now Online!
USGS EDMAP Program – Training the Next Generation of Geoscientists
View Geoscience Currents #39: USGS EDMAP Program – Training the Next Generation of Geoscientists
Join us to listen to EDMAP participants discuss the program's history, future, and benefits. EDMAP is a matching-funds grant program with universities intended to train the next generation of geologic mappers and is one of the three components of the congressionally mandated U.S. Geological Survey National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program. It is an interactive and meaningful program for students to gain experience and knowledge in geologic mapping as well as contribute to the national efforts to geologically map all of the United States. Geology professors, skilled in geologic mapping, request EDMAP funding to support upper-level undergraduate and graduate students at their college or university in a one-year mentored geologic mapping project that focuses on a specific geographic area. Every federal dollar that is awarded is matched with university funds. So far, EDMAP has benefitted 144 universities and over 850 students from geoscience departments across the nation.
This webinar is co-sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Geoscience Currents #38: Geoscience NSF Graduate Fellowships Quadrupled in 2009. The NSF Graduate Fellowship program conferred an average of 927 graduate fellowships per year between 2000 and 2008, the majority (56-59%) of which were awarded to graduate students in the life sciences and engineering fields. During this period, approximately 3.5 percent of NSF graduate fellowships were awarded to geoscience students (~31 fellowships per year). Between 2008 and 2009, there was a 37% increase from the previous year in the total number of graduate fellowships awarded, and the percentage of total fellowships awarded to geoscience students increased to 8 percent. The total number of geoscience NSF graduate fellowships increased from 26 in 2008 to 94 in 2009. Read more in Geoscience Currents #38 and download the full report Trends in Geoscience NSF Graduate Fellowships
(2000-2009).
August 18, 2010: 10:00-11:00am (US EDT) (15:00-16:00 BST)
GeoConnection Webinar (now online!)
Geosciences: Towards a Smarter Economy
Join us to listen to the following speakers discuss this recently released report published by the Geological Survey of Ireland, Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI), and the Royal Irish Academy (RIA). The report details how geoscience can be oriented toward a smart economy, and describes how the geoscience sector can contribute to economic recovery. The report also provides a clear vision of the sector in 2020 and its implications for the geosciences within Ireland. To download the report, visit: http://www.gsi.ie/Geoscience+Initiatives/
Geoscience+and+a+Smarter+Economy.htm
Speakers:
Dr. Peadar McArdle, Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI)
Garth Earls, Geological Survey of Northern Ireland (GSNI)
Prof. Pat Shannon, University College Dublin
Dr. Deirdre Lewis, Institute of Geologists of Ireland / SLR Consulting
This webinar is co-sponsored the Geological Survey of Ireland, Geological Survey of Northern Ireland, Royal Irish Academy, and the Institute of Geologists of Ireland.
Geoscience Currents #37: Geoscience Salaries Increase by 3.1% between 2008 and 2009. Despite the U.S. economy’s downturn, geoscience salaries increased by 3.1 percent between 2008 and 2009, which is slightly more than the salary growth for other science occupations (2.1%) and for all U.S. occupations (2.8%). In 2009, the top geoscience salaries were for management positions (Natural Science Managers: $127,000, Engineering Managers: $122,810), petroleum engineers ($119,960), and geoscientists (excluding hydrologists and geographers) ($92,710). Read more in Geoscience Currents #37.
Geoscience Currents #36: Student Perceptions of Geology and Implications for Choosing Among Different Science Majors. This Geoscience Currents, authored by Dr. Thomas D. Hoisch from Northern Arizona University, examines the results from a survey of 783 students in introductory geology classes that were surveyed at Northern Arizona University during the fall 2008 and spring 2009 semesters. The survey evaluated the perceptions and attitudes toward the sciences that are offered as undergraduate degree programs: Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Geology, and Physics.
The survey results indicate that misperceptions exist regarding the field of geology. Geology was perceived to be low in prestige, low in difficulty and low-paying relative to biology, chemistry, and physics. In addition, geology occupations were perceived to pay less than students’ minimum salary expectations. Student perceptions of prestige, difficulty and pay are significantly correlated, with students tending to associate higher pay with greater prestige and difficulty (Hoisch and Bowie, in press). Read more in Geoscience Currents #36 and view this Geoscience Currents Discussion Webinar.
Geoscience Currents Discussion Webinar - Now Online
Minorities, Temporary Residents, and Gender Parity in the Geosciences. This Currents Discussion covers data from Geoscience Currents 30-35.
GeoConnection Webinar - Career Series
Geoscience Careers at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)
Geoscience Currents #31 U.S. Geoscience Enrollments and Degrees 2009-2010. The 2009-2010 academic year has seen a continuation in the sharp increases in the number of geoscience undergraduates enrolled in U.S. institutions, hitting its highest levels in a decade. Undergraduate enrollments increased 7%, while graduate enrollments jumped 15.7% over the prior academic year. The increase at the undergraduate level continues an ongoing growth trend that has seen enrollments grow nationwide 24.8% since the 2006-2007 academic year. Similar growth was seen at the graduate level, with a 7% increase in new Bachelor degrees awarded and 3% and 6% increases in the Master's and Doctorate levels, respectively. Read more in Geoscience Currents #31.
GeoConnection Webinar - Career Series
Geoscientists in the Media
Geoscience Currents #29 Mega-Trends in the Australian Mining Industry. This Currents delves into the mega-trends in the Australian mining industry including commodities, ore grades, waste rock, and economic mineral resources. Read more in Geoscience Currents #29, and listen to the online webinar.
GeoConnection Webinar - Career Series
March 2, 2010: 4:00 pm -5:00 pm EST (U.S.)
Future Trends in Mining
This webinar is co-sponsored the Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG).
GeoConnection Webinar:
January 26, 2010: 1:30 pm -2:30 pm EST (U.S.)
Linking AP Courses and Earth Science Literacy with Departmental Sustainability.
GeoConnection Webinar:
December 4, 2009: 12:00 pm -1:00 pm EST (U.S.)
Strategies for Departmental Survival and Viability During Economic Downturns.
This webinar is co-sponsored by NAGT and the Building Strong Geoscience Departments project.
AGI began sending GeoConnection Student Packets to Academic
Leadership Departments in April. If you have a packet, register
it here.
Effects of the Global Economic Crisis on Geoscience Departments
The Effects
of the Economic Crisis on Geoscience Departments report provides
a snapshot of the impacts of the economic downturn as of March 2009
on geoscience departments within the United States as well as in other
countries. The report includes analyses based on institution type and
regional analyses for U.S. geoscience departments.
Overall, 83 percent of geoscience departments that responded to the survey expect budget cuts for 2009 and/or 2010. These budget cuts are expected to impact faculty (reductions and hiring freezes) and support activities (IT, lab equipment, etc.) the most. Graduate student admission and graduate student support will be least impacted. Although the majority of departments expect to be viable beyond the next three years, several U.S. departments indicated that their future was "definitely" or "immediately" threatened by the impacts of the economic downturn.
Read more about how geoscience departments are weathering the economic downturn by downloading the report from the Geoscience Workforce Program's Reports page.
Status of the Geoscience Workforce 2009
Despite the global economic crisis, the geosciences continue to see opportunity in the future, with commodities like gold pushing historic highs, oil showing signs of rebounding, and the ever present dilemma of the talent gap expected from the retirement of the Baby Boomers. Never before has there been a comprehensive look at the state of the workforce, education, and economic dynamics of the geosciences. In these times of uncertainty, The Status of the Geoscience Workforce 2009 report provides the intelligence needed for decision makers that rely on geoscience professionals to accomplish their missions.
The report integrates all available data sources, including original data collected by AGI, as well as federal, society, and industry sources, into a comprehensive view of the human and economic parameters of the geosciences, including supply and training of new students, workforce demographics and employment projections, to trends in geoscience research funding and other economic indicators.
Demographics by age, race, gender, and industry type; student and research funding statistics; commodity pricing, the GDP of the geosciences, and more are all detailed thoroughly. This book is a resource to assist members of the geosciences community in preparing presentations to their colleagues and other stakeholders about the issues and opportunities in the geosciences.
To learn more and purchase this essential publication visit http://www.agiweb.org/pubs/pubdetail.html?item=300355.
