Chapter 3 | Science and Engineering Labor Force

Age and Retirement of the S&E Workforce

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College graduate workers in S&E occupations are younger than those in S&E-related or non-S&E occupations (Figure 3-23). In 2015, 28% of those in S&E occupations were between 51 and 75 years of age, compared to 33% of those in S&E-related occupations and 37% of those in non-S&E occupations. The median age of those employed in S&E occupations was 40 years, compared to 43 years among those employed in S&E-related occupations and 44 years for those employed in non-S&E occupations. This may suggest, among other things, that as S&E workers age, they transition from S&E occupations to S&E-related (e.g., S&E managers) or non-S&E (e.g., non-S&E managers or other management-related) occupations.

Similar to the trend seen across broad occupational categories, S&E highest degree holders are generally younger than those holding highest degrees in S&E-related or non-S&E fields (Figure 3-23). In 2015, a smaller proportion of S&E highest degree holders (31%) than S&E-related (35%) or non-S&E (37%) highest degree holders were between 51 and 75 years of age. In addition, degree holders in different S&E fields varied in their ages. S&E highest degree holders in physical sciences, particularly the men in this group, were older than those in other broad S&E fields (Appendix Table 3-11). S&E highest degree holders in computer and information sciences, a relatively new field with rapid growth, were relatively young: only about one-fourth were between 51 and 75 years of age.

Within broad degree areas, the age profile of different degree fields varies (Appendix Table 3-11). For example, within life sciences degree fields, between 23% and 29% of highest degree holders in biological sciences and environmental life sciences were between 51 and 75 years of age, compared with 50% of highest degree holders in agricultural and food sciences. In all broad S&E fields of highest degree except computer and mathematical sciences, women were younger than their male counterparts, reflecting the rising proportions of women in S&E (Appendix Table 3-11). Age differences among fields of study vary based on many different considerations, including the recent development of a field or a decline in new participants to a field as that field becomes less relevant to changes in the economy. Age variation may also indicate a situation in which experience is valued over new knowledge.

Trends in labor force participation among older individuals provide useful information about retirement patterns and how these patterns may have changed over time. Recent patterns of leaving the labor force and shifting to part-time work among older members of the workforce suggest that the labor force participation rate among scientists and engineers begins to decline sometime between the ages of 55 and 60 and is markedly reduced by the time workers reach their late 60s. One indication of the relationship between age and the level of labor force participation is illustrated by Figure 3-24, which shows the proportions of older scientists and engineers working full time. In 2015, at age 50, 78% of scientists and engineers worked full time (35 hours or more per week) in their principal job. Among individuals in their late 50s, this proportion dropped steeply. Among those in their late 60s, for example, less than one-third worked full time.

Between 1993 and 2015, increasing proportions of scientists and engineers in their 60s reported still being in the labor force. Whereas 69% of those aged 60–64 were in the labor force in 1993, by 2015 this had risen to 74%. For those between the ages of 65 and 69, the proportion rose from 39% in 1993 to 47% in 2015.^​ (See section Age Composition of the Academic Doctoral Workforce in Chapter 5 for a discussion of the age profile and retirement patterns of the academic S&E doctoral workforce.)

Reasons provided for labor force nonparticipation or part-time work status also shed light on the relationship between age and retirement (Figure 3-25 illustrates the relationship between age and labor force nonparticipation because of retirement). In 2015, about 3.3 million scientists and engineers reported that they were out of the labor force because of retirement. The vast majority (91%) of retired individuals were 60–75 years of age. Individuals with doctorates typically reported lower rates of retirement than those without doctorates.

Retirement does not always mean that workers permanently leave the labor force. After nominally retiring from their jobs, some workers continue to work part time, work in a different capacity, or decide to return to the labor market at a later time. About 1.8 million employed scientists and engineers in 2015 reported that they had previously retired from a job. A total of 793,000 scientists and engineers working part time in 2015 reported their reason for working part time as having “previously retired or semi-retired.” Individuals who chose to stay in or return to the labor market following an occurrence of retirement were younger (median age 62) than those who were out of the labor force following retirement (median age 67).