Chemistry, unlike its sister fields of biology and physics, has always has a substantial industrial sector. In broad strokes, over the past several years about one-third of those receiving an undergraduate degree in chemistry have gone to graduate school, one-third to professional schools, and one-third to industry. Of those who receive a doctorate in chemistry, about 70% take positions in industry. Overall, approximately 70% of chemists are employed in industry.

A Symposium on Education for Industry took place at the 212th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Orlando, Florida, August 25­29, 1996. The symposium sought to address two linked questions:

1. What are industrial jobs in the 1990s and beyondat the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. levelsreally like?
2. Given that approximately 70% of U.S. chemists are employed in industry, what responses should academic institutions make to prepare their students well for industrial jobs?

For brevity, this column addresses only the portions of the symposium that are most pertinent to undergraduate education. Several papers addressed the education of doctoral chemists and provided information relevant to the concerns expressed by Lavallee.

In a summary paper, Joe Lagowski spoke about the complexity of the task facing chemistry faculty (and the nation):

• Competitive pressures on the economy have enhanced the vocational emphasis of college degrees (B.S., M.S., and Ph.D.) and have increased the pressure on colleges and universities to produce a "saleable product";
• The social compact with science that Vannevar Bush authored 50 years ago is being restructured and the new structure is not yet clear;
• Research (and general) funding for colleges and universities is likely to decrease, and industrial laboratories have almost eliminated their basic research programs; and
• The needs of students to be properly educated must be addressed, and training targeted toward near-term jobs is unlikely to be the best answer.

Industrial representatives at the symposium described their 1990s environment as more competitive, with shorter time cycles for the introduction of new or modified products and with greater need for flexible, adept chemists who are able to bring together the complex resources of the company to produce immediate, profitable responses to market opportunities or customer problems. These comments from the industrial sector are not novelmany of them were made in the 1973 ACS report "Chemistry in the Economy". What is new is the statements from industrial representatives that their organizations can no longer afford to budget 12-18 months for chemistsB.S, M.S., or Ph.Dto learn about the realities of their industrial environment and start to become productive. At all levels, students who have some prior industrial knowledgethrough co-op, internships, summer jobswill have a definite edge in getting jobs.

Jobs for B.A./B.S. chemists appear to differ significantly between small and large companies. In large companies, these employees are often "technicians"a pejorative term, which indicates that they are assigned to repetitive work and are given few opportunities to show they are clever chemists. Consequently their opportunities to rise within the company are limited. In small companies, B.S. chemists do have such opportunities, primarily because a chemist may be called on to perform any needed task, including marketing and pilot plant operations. The downside in a small company is that life is less predictable, and the company may even go out of business.

The starting salaries for B.S. chemical engineers (approximately $40K) are now about 40% higher than the starting salaries for B.S. chemists (approximately $28K), even though both have taken rigorous curricula. Companies appear to view B.S. chemical engineers as "ready to solve problems" and B.S. chemists as "ready for graduate school".

At the symposium, Sally Chapman, speaking as chair of the ACS Committee on Professional Training, encouraged innovative undergraduate curricula, even industrially oriented ones, and reminded the audience that CPT also requires a sound chemical core (2). Many institutions already offer some industrial flavor in their undergraduate programs. A survey paper by Ferraris and Melton (3) lists many diverse institutions (and contacts) for industrial chemistry courses and provides a large listing of industrial chemistry resources. Manny Panar described a Web site (http://www.udel.edu/ccr/) containing modules on topics relevant to industrial careers and industrial R&D, which can be downloaded for use by interested chemistry faculty (4).

The ACS Committee on Corporation Associates provided funds for the publication of the symposium papers in a booklet titled Education For Industry, and a copy was sent in May 1997 to every chemistry department offering an ACS-approved undergraduate program. Persons wishing to obtain a copy (free) should contact Ms. Felicia Foxworth Dixon, ACS Office of Industrial Relations, 1155 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036; Phone: 202/872-6101; email: f_dixon@acs.org.

Literature Cited

1. Lavallee, D. K. J. Chem. Educ. 1997, 74, 147.

2. Chapman, S. In Education for Industry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1997; pp 45-50 (or paper no. 36 presented at the ACS 212th National Meeting, Orlando FL, 1996).

2. Ferraris, J. P.; Melton, L. A. In Education for Industry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1997; pp 55-64 (or paper no. 37 presented at the ACS 212th National Meeting, Orlando FL, 1996).

3. Panar, M. In Education for Industry; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1997; pp 51-54 (or paper no. 38 presented at the ACS 212th National Meeting, Orlando FL, 1996).