The flow of talent in higher education is a matter of national concern.
Especially in science and engineering, serious questions can be raised
about whether the future production of scientific and technical talent in
this country will be sufficient to supply the human resource needs of
industry, universities, and the government. Questions also can be raised
about the future supply of teachers and researchers in the humanities and
the social sciences. According to William G. Bowen, former president
of Princeton University, "We need to increase overall production of new
Ph.D.'s by two-thirds," and "In the humanities and social sciences, we
need to double the current numbers" (Fiske, 1989, A1). The purpose of
this study is to address this and other issues related to the flow of talent
in the United States in the 1980s in comparison with the flow of talent
in the 1970s.
