ABSTRACT

The United States faces the prospect of being able to provide few new academic positions. The causes are rapid expansion of the younger faculty group to accomodate increased enrollment in the 1960's, the leveling off of support for academic science, and a coming decline in the number of persons reaching college age. Similar problems exist in Sweden, the Federal Republic of Germany, Denmark, Norway, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, the USSR, Japan, and perhaps other countries. During the 1960's, all Western industrialized countries rapidly increased support for university research in the natural sciences and engineering. The continuing consequences of the past declines in rates of increase in both university enrollment and in research expenditures will be augmented or moderated by future changes in levels of research expenditures and university enrollment levels. The Science Research Council, the governmental body in the United Kingdom with primary responsibility for academic science, has called attention forcefully to the problem of academic posts.