AGI Publishes 2018 Status of the Geoscience Workforce Report

Submitted by jlilek on

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 11, 2019
 
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) announces the publication of Status of the Geoscience Workforce 2018, the comprehensive report on educational, employment, and economic indicators in the geosciences.
 
This benchmark report integrates primary data collected by AGI along with data from federal agencies and geoscience societies to provide a view into the state of the geosciences.
 
Some highlights from this year’s 178-page report include:
  • Over the past five years, recent geoscience graduate hiring has evolved with the economic changes that have impacted geoscience industries.  For example, the economic downturn in the oil and gas industry led to layoffs and a decrease in hiring of recent graduates in that industry.
  • Current geoscience employers and recent graduates strongly agree that new graduates are deficient in professional skills, such as writing, collaboration, project management, adaptability, and leadership, as well as analytical and programming skills.
  • In 2016, there were approximately 312,000 geoscientists employed in the United States.  While there is expected to be a large percentage of retirements over the next decade, new innovations and technology are beginning to be employed to help cover the shortage of 118,000 full-time equivalent jobs over the next decade.
  • Female representation within the geoscience workforce has been slowly but steadily increasing each year.  In 2017, 35% of environmental scientists and geoscientists and 20% of four-year university geoscience faculty were women.
 
The 2018 report (ISBN-13: 978-0913312995) can be purchased in print for $50.00 or as a downloadable PDF for $20.00.  For ordering information and links to past reports, please visit https://www.americangeosciences.org/workforce/reports. 
 
About AGI
The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is a nonprofit federation of more than 50 scientific and professional associations that represents over a quarter-million geoscientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides geoscientists with access to scholarly information, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society's use of resources, resiliency to natural hazards, and health of the environment.
 
AGI is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to serving the geoscience community and addressing the needs of society. AGI headquarters are in Alexandria, Virginia.
 
The American Geosciences Institute represents and serves the geoscience community by providing collaborative leadership and information to connect Earth, science, and people.
 
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AGI Contact:
Joseph Lilek, Communications Manager
571.483.5445
 
 
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