Issuu

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA

SPECIAL PUBLICATION No. 1 A Survey of Geoscientists in Australia, 1967 By K. A. TOWNLEY, I. R. McLEOD AND C. E. B. CONYBEARE

SYDNEY DECEMBER 1968

1968 THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA Office Bearers 1968-1969 President: NELLY H. LUDBROOK Vice-Presidents: F. CANAVAN, A. F. TRENDALL Hon. Secretary: G. F. WHITTEN ffcw. Treasurer: J. B. JONES M Administrative Officer: K. G. MOSHER

Hon Editor: D. A. BROWN

Copies of this publication may be obtained from: The Secretary, Department of Geology, Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T. 2600. Purchase of copies of Journal: Mr K. G. Mosher, Geological Society's Office, Science House, 157 Gloucester Street, Sydney, N.S.W. 2000. Price: 30 cents post paid.

GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AUSTRALIA

SPECIAL PUBLICATION No. 1 A Survey of Geoscientists in Australia, 1967 By K. A. TOWNLEY, I. R. McLEOD AND C. E. B. CONYBEARE

SYDNEY DECEMBER 1968

FOREWORD This special publication presents the results of a detailed survey of geoscientists in Australia as at 30 September 1967, carried out by a Committee of the Geological Survey of Australia comprising Mr K. A. Townley (Convener) and Mr I. R. McLeod of the Bureau of Mineral Resources (Geological Branch), and Dr C. E. B. Conybeare of the Department of Geology, Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T. On behalf of the Geological Society of Australia, I would like to express grateful acknowledgment to the Bureau of Mineral Resources for their assistance in producing this publication. D. A. BROWN, Hon. Editor. Canberra, A.C.T. 26 November 1968.

IKTxlOX7J C TIOIT During the pant five yearn it has become apparent that the considerable increase in demand for geologists and geophysicists in Australia has placed a strain on the countryr s ability to meet the requirements from among its OV.TI graduates. In consequence5 industry and. government organizations have found it necessary to bring in both experienced personnel and new graduates from overseas. To some extent this is a normal situation, and many Australian geoscientist have returned to Australia after gaining many years of overseas experience. Factual information on the outflow and inflow of geoscientists in various segments of professional activity, however, was lacking. Information was also needed on the number of earth scientists in training and graduating from Australian universities, and the various fields of employment to which they went; on the trends of training in universities, as regards both content and length of training and on the requirements and preferences of industry and government organizations in these respects; and, finally, on the trend towards post-graduate training. Y/ithout such information it is not possible to evaluate current trends and estimate future positions of earth science professions. It was thought that surveys undertaken by professional organizations within the oil or mining industry would probably not cover the professions as a whole and that in this respect a survey undertaken by the Geological Society of Australia would be the most effective means of gaining information from the largest proportion in all segments of geoscientists. A survey was accordingly undertaken, in three parts: questionnaires were addressed to tertiary institutions, to employers, and to individual geoscientists. The results of the first two parts are presented in this paper, The effective date of the survey was 30 September 196'/*

Table 1:

Student and S t a f f numbers, Geoscience Departments at .Air U n i v e r s i t i e s and Colleges of Advanced Education, 1967.

Staff

Student Enrolment Undergraduate

University Townsville Queensland Mew England Newcastle Sydney New South Wales Macquarie AJ.U. (I.A.Sj A.N.U. (S.G.S,) file 1 bourne Tasmania Adelaide Western A u s t r a l i a

s- ra .rO U. >-

23 120 31 91 219 140 212

-a c: O L. o aj 11

48 15 29 42 05 b

"1 CJ CO

_>_. > -

b 31 15 15

23 23

13 19

34 23

31 15 r 15

Total,University RJJ.T.9 Ballarat Bendigo

1518 i 7 4

333 25 3 7

253 22 2 1

T o t a l , c o l l e g e s of advanced education

1530

317

278

a» b. c. d. e. f. g« h*

:i o dz

ex. -

2 14 5

13r

)

14 j 3 5 2 2 5

144

jr:

c-> cn

c;:5

-.-J

3 12 7

1 15 13 2 19 10 24 11 5 12 17 14

45 138 67 417 115

Total

Graduate

S*.

c> a cn >-

:, i ' an

-C-

3 13 ? 7 1n 11 0 J 15 9 10 6 10 8

Ci.

J 8

12 8 -

9s 6 5 /, T

6 7

124 4 'j

:30

1 -

144

Including 7 fiSc, preliminary Not o f f e r e d in 1967 15 in course 30 ( ' h a r d r o c k ' ) , 15 in course 31 ( ' s o f t r o c k 1 ) ; these courses are not mutually e x c l u s i v e . Diploma i n A p p l i e d Geophysics Research Fellows and Research A s s i s t a n t s I n c l u d i n g demonstrator, t e a c h i n g f e l l o w s , research f e l l o w s , research a s s i s t a n t s Not i n c l u d i n g 32 p a r t - t i m e Associateship Diploma students Pellowship Diploma

ACIOTOV/LEDGHSNTS The response "by both tartiary institutions and employers has been very gratifying: a good deal of time and effort must have gone into the replies to the questionnaires, and we are very grateful to Universities, Technical Colleges, Government organizations, and industrial employers who by their replies have made possible the paper that follows. Among individuals we should like to single out for special thanks lYir P. Canavan, President of the Geological Society of Australia in 19&7* for advice and encouragement, and Mr L.G. Hopkins, Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics, for advice on presentation of tables. 1

•

GEOSCIENCE FACULTIES IN AUSTRALIAN UNIVERSITIES Students

Student enrolment in geology and. geophysics in 19&7 is shown in Table 1. The figures exclude enrolments in service courses such as those for engineering students; but the first-year enrolments include a large majority of students for whom geology is only an ancillary study. Of the totals in Table 1, 161 third-year students (61(fo) and 134 graduate students (47/0 are assisted by scholarships; 58 (level unspecified) are already employed in geoscience. The number and pattern of 1966 graduates are given in Table 3. Of the 220 graduates (Table 2) in 1966, the percentage of various degrees granted (Pig. 1) was as follows: Ph.D. - 10p, M.Sc. - 9$, B.Sc.(lions) and B.Sc. 557°* Table 1 and Figure 1 also show that of 528 students ( enrolled during 1 )G'i in their graduating year, and in post-graduate studies, the percentage of students working toward particular degrees was as follows: Ph.D. - 27%, M.Sc. - 14^, B.Sc. (Hons) - 11c/o9 and 13.Sc. - 48^. It is also of interest that graduates entering the Government (mainly survey) field total 22, and those entering industry 69. A similar questionnaire distributed to employers of geoscientists (see Part 2 of this paper) has 3

Table 2: Graduates in gecscience at Australian Universities and Colleges of Advanced Education, I960, 1

Institution

Dip luaC;

Bachelor

Newcastle Sydney itew South Wales AXU.

| tie]bourne | Tasmania 1 Adelaide I uestern Australia R.U.T. Ballarat Bendigo

Total

< i 1

! i i

Others

i i1

2 9 L.

14 5

0 2

5 5 8 14 5

2 3 4 14 7

1 5 2 1

3 2 5 2 3 1 2

« i

121

...J

(LA.3.) (S.3,S.)

Ph.D.

fester

6 3

22 14 5 i, < *T 1

\ Queensland \ to SnjUnd

UKIK

Cache1 or onours)

ii i

3 2

Post-graduate Diploma in Applied Geophysics

Table 3: Employment of 1366 graduates En

fi°]f§ent

University 2 Teaching^ Survey Water Commissions Mining Companies Oil Companies Consultants Overseas

Diploma

B.Sc. 25 25 4

Total

;,..Sc.

Ph.D.

Other

Total

53 27 20

| J

2 53 11 5 13 17 29

5 3 3

12 22

1 2

121

27 3 3 -

Other Not known

15 2 11 1 13 5

3 1 3 1 2

B.Sc.(Hons)

2 -

2 2 -

230 {

i n c l u d e s further study and research

^Except Tertiary

220 GRADUATES

100%

10% 9%

528 STUDENTS

NUMBER OF

NUMBER OF COMPANIES

100%

101

109

GRADUATES

27%

\ 26%

\ 14% 11%

\PhD M.Sc

BSc (Hon.)

Y / / / \ BSc. (Hon.) B.Sc.

MSI0'"48%

55%

1966

B.Sc.

1967

F i g . 1 : Percentage of graduates

F i g . 2 : Recruitment needs by

Fig«3: Employment of graduates of

and students in geoscience

percentage of companies

geoscience departments in A u s t r a l i a n

departments at A u s t r a l i a n Universities

U n i v e r s i t i e s (1966)

elicited, the number of new positions filled during 1967": it is the (]ifforen.ee between f number engaged1 and. 1 number lost1 as reported by employers ('Table 15)- One hundred and sixty-eight nev; positions were apparently established, 22 ill Government and 'Ut6 in industrial employment; the figure of 69 entering industry shows therefore, that there was a shortfall of 77 (53/0 in the supply• The shortfall can be subdivided, again on the basis of employers1 returns, into 12 (1 6/J) in the mining industry, 37 (?7$) i n ^bo petroleum industry, and 23 (85$) in the consultant and service firms. These figures deal only with positions filled; to complete the picture we must add the vacancies (as at 30 September 1967) reported by employers (see Table 9)• They are: 208 geologists, 73 geophysicists, and 12 geochemists. 86 vacancies were reported by mining companies, 40 by petroleum companies, and 52 by consultant and service firms. It is apparent, therefore, that Australian demand is very considerably greater than Australian output. Another facet of interest is a comparison of the proportions of new entrants in each of the various grades of degree (Table 3) with the requirements and preferences indicated by employers (Table 14), Table 14b, the total number of geoscientists employed by the reporting firms, gives a better indication of the requirements in the various categories than does the number of firms reporting. The requirements of industry (Table 14 and Fig. 2), which are of particular relevance to the length of training of geoscientists in universities, show that of the graduates needed, 83$ should preferably hold a B.Sc. degree, and that approximately two thirds of these should preferably have a B.Sc. (lions). Approximately 15 percent of companies require graduates with M.Sc. degrees, and of these, approximately one third should have a Ph.D. The percentage of graduates employed in various occupations (Table 3 and Fig. 3) is of particular interest as it shows that in 1966 more than a third, of graduates holding 13.So., B.Sc. (Hons) ,and M.Sc. degrees, and two thirds of those holding a Ph.D. degree continued in academic work. Approximately one third of the B.Sc. (lions) and M.Sc. graduates went . into industry, half of the LI.Sc. graduates going into the oil industry, and half into the mining industry. Of the B.Sc.(Hons) graduates, two thirds entered the mining

industry. Only one fifth of the Ph.D. graduates' turned to industry, and these were equally divided between oil and mining. About one fifth of the B.Sc.(Hons) and IT.Sc. graduates, and one tenth of the Ph.D. graduates joined geological surveys and other organizations in the civil service. These proportions are subject to minor alteration, as roughly 10^ of the returns did not specify the information. Staff Totals of University staff are shown in Table 4? and percentages in Figure' 4 . For comparison, the percentages of various grades of academic staff in all the Canadian universities are also shown. V/ithin the salary ranges of Lecturer and Senior Lecturer there are seven and five annual salary increments respectively. This corresponds to seven and six annual increments for the Canadian grades of Assistant Professor and Associate Professor respectively. The relative percentages of Professor plus Reader in Australian universities, and of Professor in Canadian universities are almost precisely the same. The relative proportions suggest that promotion from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer is attained at an earlier stage than that from Assistant to Associate Professor, but that promotion to the grade of Reader in Australian universities and Professor in Canadian universities represents a comparable stage in terms of academic service and attainments. We made some inquiry into the mobility and breadth of experience of members of University staff, partly in view of a segment of opinion voiced at, or implicit in, a symposium held in 1966 at the Australian National University', that University thinking is. somewhat x'emote

Proceedings of the Symposium on Undergraduate Geological Training (24-25 February 1966). Geol. D e p . A.N.U., Canberra, June 1966.

NUMBER

STAFF

100% 14%

10%

15%

20%

Senior Lecturer

42%

34%

Lecturer

29%

36%

Professor Reader

Professor (Dept Head) Professor

72%

Associate Professor

Assistant Professor

Ci AUSTRALJAN °

CANADIAN

Fig.4: Percentage of Staff in Australian and Canadian geoscience departments (1967)

Fig.5: A: Percentage of s t a f f in geoscience departments of Australian Universities (1967) with experience in industry,public service, extrauniversity, and university. B: Percentage of s t a f f against years of experience in industry. C: in public service. D: extra-university E: university

Table 4 :

Totals o f p r o f e s s i o n a l s t a f f i n geoscience departments o f A u s t r a l i a n u n i v e r s i t i e s , 1967,

Professors Associate Professors and Readers Senior Lecturers and Senior Fellows L e c t u r e r s and Fellows Demonstrators, Tutors, Teaching Fellows Research Fellows Research A s s i s t a n t s

^ 18 55 34 51 7 20

Total

202

Table 5: V a r i e t i e s o f experience o f s t a f f a t A u s t r a l i a n u n i v e r s i t i e s

University

3 IS2

Total

43 4

30 3

Research & Government & Industry

20'

5 7

Government & Industry

Research & Industry

Government only

25 2

Research & Government

Research only

Own Univ. only Other A u s t . , n o t overseas Overseas

Industry only

None

Other Experience

10 1

3 8

2 2

4 1

211

16 4

1 Includes 1 person w i t h u n s p e c i f i e d » 2 persons « " 2 3 u 3 n n " 11 11 n «

!otherf

" " «

experience " " »

71 3

Table 6:

Length of experience of University staff in various categories of employment.

Experience

No of persons reporting this experience Total

Under 5-9yrs. 10-14yrs. 15 yrs. & over 5 year

Av.length of experience Years

At present Univ.

145

At other Australian Univ.

7.0

At Overseas Univ.

4.0

In other Research Institutes: In Australia Overseas

13 23

10 20

3 3

In Government In Industry

56 47

35 29

13 12

4 4

4 2

5.8 5.1

Other

5.9

Total University experience

145

10.9

Total extra-Univ* experience

105

6.9

Total professional experience

145

15.5

8.2

3.4 3.2

from that of employers. A breakdown of the careers of 145 staff members was compiled by the Universities; we believe that this number includes very nearly all the permanent staff. Table 5 shows the varieties of experience of University staff, and Table 6 the numbers, and length of experience, in each category reported. The categories reported were: own University, other Australian University, overseas University (excluding sabbatical leave), Australian research institutes, oversea research institutes, Government survey or authority, industry, and 1 other1. The figures show considerable mobility and breadth of experience among a substantial majority of staff, and certainly cannot be used to support the allegations of isolation. Details of extra-university experience among university staff are shown in F i g u r e , T h i s indicate^ (A) that 72$ of staff have had professional experience other than in universities, and that of these 3 9 h a v e been employed by geological surveys or other organizations in the public service, and, 32.5/^ have been employed in industry. The breakdown by percentage of staff and years of experience in each category of employment is shown by B, C, D, and E. In categories B (industry) and C (public..service) the majority of staff members within the 0-5 year group served less than 2 and 3 years respectively. Fields of Research Universities have kindly enumerated the main fields of research in which they .are engaged. Since these may influence the choice of University by intending graduate students, they are itemized below. University College Townsville; Mineralogy and petrology; recent sedimentation; economic geology; palaeontology and stratigraphy. University of Queensland; Petrology and geochemistry of volcanic, plutonic, and metamorphic rocks; isotope geology; palaeontology of corals, bivalves, brachiopods, conodonts, Mesozoic ferns; general palynology; sediment ology and diagenesis of carbonate rocks; economic 11

geology of copper and. nickel; geology; seismology.

clay mineralogy;

petroleum

University of New England: Igneous and metamorphic mineralogy and petrology; origin of metalliferous ore deposits; regional stratigraphy, structure, and sedimentation; palaeontology (including micropalaeontology); biostratigraphy. University of Newcastle; Mineralogy (secondary minerals, I)TA determination of carbonates); petrology (Carboniferous volcanics); chromatography in geology; Permo-Triassic sedimentology; coal geology; structural geology. University of Sydney: Coal; igneous and metamorphic petrology; economic geology; structural geology; stratigraphy and palaeontology; sedimentology; and marine geology; geophysics. University of New South Wales: Not specified. Macguarie University: Petrology; structural geology; sedimentology; geomorphology; stratigraphy. A.N.U. (institute of Advanced Studies): Geochronology and isotopic geochemistry; radiocarbon dating; trace element geochemistry; descriptive .and analytical petrology; experimental petrology; rock deformation and structural geology; se i smo1ogy; palae omagnet i sm; ge ot hermy. A.N.U. (School of General Studies): Igneous and metamorphic petrology; Lower and Middle Palaeozoic stratigraphic palaeontology and sedimentology; economic and structural geology University of Melbourne: "Virtually all fields covered". University of Tasmania: Tectonics, especially of New Guinea; Ordovician, Permian, and Tertiary stratigraphy, sedimentation, and palaeontology, mainly of Tasmania; chemistry and origin of base metal ores; geochemistry and mineralogy of diagenesis, especially of clays; systematic gravity surveys; systematic study of Tasmanian minerals; chemical studies on basaltic magmas; the deep structure of the earth as revealed by geophysical methods.

University of Adelaide: Precambrian-Cambrian stratigraphy and palaeontology; structural geology ;md tectonics; geochemistry of layered intrusions; metamorphic and granite petrology; ore deposits; X-ray crystallography. University of Western Australia: Marine carbonate sedimentation; palynology; selenology and meteoritics; igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary petrology; geology of Solomon Islands. Royal Melbourne Institute of Technolo.^y: General geology • of special areas; industrial research in engineering materials; palaeontology. Bendigo Institute of Technology: Metamorphic petrology and structure.

EMPLOYMENT OF GEOSCIENTISTS IN AUSTRALIA

To employers, some 370 forms were sent out. We knew that many of the recipients probably did not employ geoscientists, but tried to cover every possibility. In the event, 134 positive replies were received; 20 of these 'were composite, that is they were from parent companies and included data for, altogether, 53 subsidiaries. Two major groups of employers were omitted Universities, because a separate questionnaire to them had included questions on their staff (Part 1 of this paper), and Education Departments, because the field of employment was so different that replies to the questions we asked would not be helpful. Apart from these, we have reason to believe that the returns are almost complete, and even allowing for the employment in Government of geoscientists under different titles such as Research Officer, of whom no statistics are kept, we may confidently expect that more than 95c/° of geoscientists employed in this country are represented in this and the Universities1 surveys.

Table 7: Main functions of industrial employers, and

numbers employed

Coys declaring field as their main function ——.—.— . em

No of Coys

Field

ploy ' by companies

"Geo-" Geolo- "Geo" Total gists physicists chemists

10 2

333 317

30 10

5 18

173 26

2 3

8 2 2 2 4

221

971

38 36

299 220

24 95

Mining Well Logging Exploration Geophysics Exploration Geochemistry Hydrology Photogeology Engineering Geology Other

20 2 9

166 8 3

Total

112

731

Research Survey Mineral Exploration Petroleum Explora t i o n

Coys Coys declar- declares ing field field as their as their 2nd * 3rd function function

3 2 4 1 2 3 9

*Some employers gave only one or two functions in their replies

Types of employer Employers were asked to categorize themselves in one of six types of'organization. Most found it possible to do so, and the remainder fell into the omnibus classification 1 other1. Most of the tables that follow use this subdivision. Two categories perhaps need a little explanation. 'Government authorities1 are those organizations which, although financed by and working for Government, do not fall within the provisions of the various Public Service Acts. C.S.I.R.O. is an example. Salaries and conditions of service, therefore, are not necessarily the same as in organizations, such as the Bureau of Mineral Resources and State surveys, that are parts of actual Government departments. The distinction is perhaps better appreciated and more important to public servants than industrial employees. 'Mineral exploration1 was restricted to companies with no operating mines. This classification does not necessarily reflect the functions of an organization. It does not, for example, show the fields in which a consultant firm is active; or that a company classed as .'mining1 might yet employ most of its geoscientists on mineral exploration. We therefore asked organizations to classify their functions according to a rather different scheme: they provided us with an assessment of their three main functions, in order of importance. For instance, a consulting firm may have classified its functions as (l) exploration geophysics (2) well logging (3) survey. Table 7 shows how firms classified their functions; and against each primary function we have placed the total employment figures of all companies who classified themselves so. V/e did not ask companies to break down their employment figures against various functions, so the figures for staff employed are not those employed in the particular function specified, but only those employed in firms who consider that their primary function is as specified. All the geological surveys, except one which did not distinguish the order of importance of its functions, gave 'survey' as the main function. Other functions commonly listed were: mineral exploration, engineering geology, and hydrology. Only two listed 'research' among their three

Table 8a, Nos of organizations and staff employed, by types of organization * ! Type of Organization

No. of urganizations

! Government ! Government authority j Total Government j Mining ! Mineral Exploration* | Petroleum Exploration j Consulting | Other ! Total Industry

j Total

24 23 32 26 7

Geologists 341 58

247 131 177

112

399

731

Staff employed Geophysicists Geochemists

Total

115 4

464 84

119

14 133 26 40

221

1130

134

8 22

340

6 2

19 49

259 202 310 124 76

548 i

971 | 1519X »

Table 8b. i\Jo, of organizations employing geologists, geophysicists, and geochemists, by type of organization j Type of Organization i Government Government authority Total Government ! Mining j Mineral Exploration | Petroleum Exploration | Consulting ! Other | Total Industry j Total

Organizations Employing Geologists 11 11 22 22 23 29 20 5 99 121

Geophysicists 4

5 9 26 10 2

Geochemists 3 2 5 4

7 «

52 59

5 1

17 22

* No operating mines + Excludes universities and education authorities Excluding 202 fulItime University staff and unknown number of school teachers.

main functions. Engineering geology, research, and other (mainly museums) were the functions most commonly listed by other government and semi-government organizations. Table 8a shows the division of employers into the seven primary types, and the number of geoscientists employed by each. Since not all companies employ geologists, geophysicists, and geochemists, Table 8b shows the number employing each. It can be read in conjunction with Table 8a, thus: of the 11 Government organizations, all employ geologists, 5 employ geophysicists, and 3 employ geochemists. It so happens that some of the 11 employ all three, but this cannot be deduced from the table; nor, of course, on the other hand, does the Table show that 5 organizations employ only geophysicists. It simply shows how many employers of, say, geophysicists there are in Australia. Universities were not approached as employers: statistics on staff employed at Universities will be found in Table 4- Since no breakdown into geologists, geophysicists, and geochemists was requested by Universities, we can only add their staff to the total number of geoscientists in Australia. Fig. 6 shows the percentage of geologists, geophysicists, and geochemists employed by government organizations, the mining and mineral exploration industry, and the petroleum production and exploration industry. Note (a) that the mining industry employs twice as many geologists as the petroleum industry, but only one fourth as many geophysicists; (b) that government organizations employ the same proportions of the total supply of geologists and geophysicists; and (c) that government organizations and the mining industry are practically the only employers of geochemists, apart from universities. For the purpose of Fig. 6, those employed as or by consultants have been divided equally between the mining and oil industries. The firms making up the total of each column in Table 8b can be grouped according to the number of staff employed in that category. This is done in Table 8c, i.e. of the 122 employers of geologists, 69 employ from 1 to 5 geologists, 26 from 6 to 10, and so on. In the last column, the same grouping is made according to the total number of geoscientists, irrespective of whether they are 17

Table 8c. Numbers of organizations employing geoscientists according to numbersof geoscientists employed No* of organizations No. employed in category Geologists

Geophysicists

Geochemists

Geoscientists

66 28 8 9 3 4 3

49 3 3 1 1 1 1

64 30 15 11 2 8 4

121

134

1-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 31-50 more than 50 Total

Table 9:

Vacancies No, of vacancies

No,, of organizations Type of organization

At full strength

With vacancies

Government Government authorities Total Government

3 5

8 6

Mining Mineral Exploration Petroleum Exploration Consulting Other Total Industry

13 7 13 6 2

Total

With vacancies for Geologists

Geo-. . Geo-, physicists chemists

8 6

4 2

8 11 16 19 19 5

14 11 16 11 14 3

1 1

27 3

72 9 2

6 3 5 12 5 3

Geolo- § - • x gists physicists

2 2 -

3 1

3 1 30

81 28 43 22 28 6

Geochemists

4 2 2

5 5 18 6 9

3 1

127

208

* One company did not answer this question; 64 specified type and number of vacancies, and the following columns relate, therefore, to them.

geologists, geophysicists, or geochemists, employed by firms. As in Table 8b, each column is independent of the others: an organization which is one of the 47 employing 1 to 5 geophysicists ir not necessarily one of the 69 employing 1 to 5 geologists - it might, for instance, employ from 16 to 20 geologists.

Vacancies (Table 9) Eighty-four employers reported vacancies 011 their staff; but only 64 of the. 7*0 industrial concerns with vacancies specified where the vacancies lay. The remaining columns of Table 9, therefore, dissect the answers by the 64, along with the Government organizations. Vacancies for geologists amount to 18$ of the staff employed, for geophysicists 21$, and for geo~ chemists about 28$ - all considerable figures, particularly in view of the reported output from Australian Universities in 1966 of 91 all told entering Government and Industry. • Fig. 7 shows the percentage of vacancies for geologists, geophysicists, and geochemists in the same categories as Pig. 6. Comparison of both figures shows that the percentages for geologists in all categories are similar, in other words, 35$ of geologists in Australia are employed by government organizations, which have 39$ of the present vacancies for geologists. The same relationship holds for the mining and oil industries. The figures for geophysicists show that government organizations employ 35$ of geophysicists, and have 41 $ of the vacancies, a similar relationship to that for geologists. But figures for the mining industry, which employed 10$ of geophysicists and had 19$ of the vacancies, suggests an increased demand for geophysicists. The figures also suggest that the demand for geochemists in the mining industry has also increased.

Table 10:

Forecasts of future expansion

One: year hence On graduation Type of organization

staff required

Ho. of Staff replies requiired

Government (11)*

Government authority (11) Total Government (22)

28 4

5 2

Mining (24)

10 7

19 18

7 10

15 9

11 17

Mineral Exploration (23) Petroleum Exploration (32) Consulting Other (7)

(26)

19 19

Total Industry (112)

No .of replies

StITT Mo. of requi red repl ies

49 7

14 12 18 17

-j Experienced!

On graduation

Nc). of rc; p l i e s

1 1

Three years hence

Experienced

5 8 13 7

Staff ! require<j 19

4 10

56 7

13 33

41 24 19

9 13 4

23 i 9 19 21 38 8

109

130

95 !

141

186

118 |

Total x

Total number of organizations in category in parentheses

$ 208

TOTALS

| Government

Graduation

Government Overseas

Mining

fcW^-j

Mining

OH Other

Fig.6: Employment of geoscientists in Australia, 30th September, 1967.

Industry HQ

E l

Fig.7: Vacancies for geoscientists in Australia, 30th September, 1967.

PSSS^j

Government University

Staff

Fig.8: Recruitment of existing s t a f f in Australian employment,1967.

'Ve also asked employers if they would care to forecast their additional requirements of geoscientists in 1, 3, and 10 years. Comparison, in Table 10, of the number of replies received with the total number of returns in each category shows that less than half the employers indicated a requirement for additional staff in 1 and 3 years; so few gave a 10-year forecast that the figures are meaningless. The absence of a figure could mean either that a company will not require staff, or - more likely in the case of many of the firms - that it is not willing to hazard a guess. Nevertheless, though the figures are useless as statistics, they do indicate a belief in continued expansion by all sectors of the industry*

Recruitment Various aspects of recruitment occupied a good deal of the questionnaire. First, employers were divided into those who recruit only within Australia and those who draw their staff from other countries as well. Table 11a shows the division by type of organization and Table 11b by primary function. Table 12 summarizes an enquiry into the geographical origins of existing staff. Employers were asked to indicate from which country most of their staff (except those graduating in Australia came, which was the next most important source, and so on. Unfortunately, we omitted to specify New Zealand as a source country: certainly many of the 1 other * category, and probably most, refer to New Zealand. The questionnaire did not specify the form of reply when a company had drawn an equal number of staff from two or more countries. Some employers merely put ticks in two or more boxes, others replied in the form f1, 1, 2* or f1, 2, 2 . . T . For this reason, the figures in Table 12 should be regarded as indications only. As the countries most affected were Britain, United States, and Canada, which have the largest totals, the ambiguity will not be very significant.

Table 11: Recruitment: source of r e c r u i t s 11(a) lio, of organizations by type of organization and source of r e c r u i t s

- - A u s t r a l i a only

Other countries also

Government

Government Authority

Type of Organization

6 16

Total Government 8 6

15 17

Petroleum Exploration

Consulting

Other Total

liiining Iiiineral

Exploration

Industry

Total

11(b) Ho. of organizations (industry only), by primary function and source of r e c r u i t s

Primary Function

Research

A u s t r a l i a only -

j tiiineral Exploration

Other countries also 1 26 30

! Petroleum Exploration

liiining

]

Well-logging

12 1

! Exploration Geochemistry

| Exploration Geophysics Photogeology

j Other

Table 12: Recruitment: o r i g i n of e x i s t i n g s t a f f (Australia excepted) Employers were asked to grade countries by numbers of employees o r i g i n a t i n g there Employers 1 grading of country as source of t h e i r r e c r u i t s Fourth Third Second First Britain United States Canada Europe Southern A f r i c a

24 31

2 1 1

6 7

2 7

Others

1 1 -

+ In 8 returns, New Zealand was mentioned s p e c i f i c a l l y as a source

Table 13:

Recruitment: p r i o r employment of e x i s t i n g s t a f f No, of s t a f f recruited

Types of Organization

~ graduation

companies

Government

220

Government authority

Total Government Mining

31 244

j 127

staff

6 82

surveys

overseas

10 20

27 48

126 53

Mineral Exploration

Petroleum Exploration Consulting

85 32

47 46

5 6

17 15

114 35

Other Total

14 industry

Total

300

204

306

544

286

119

432

Table 14a» No, of employers according to academic q u a l i f l c a t l ons (a) accepted and (b) preferred

Preferred

Accepted Dip.

Hons.

B.Sc.

M.Sc.

Ph.D.

Government

Not stated | Dip.

B. Sc.

Hons.

M.Sc.

Ph.D.

Not stated

Other

Government authority

Total 17

Government

Mining

Mineral Exploration

Petroleum Exploration

Consulting

Other

Total Industry

Total

Table 14b: Q u a l i f i c a t i o n s : g e o s c i e n t i s t s employed by firms l i s t e d in Table 14a,

Accepted*

Type of Organization

Dip,

Total Government

j j

Mining Mineral

Exploration Petroleum

Exploration Consulting

! |

Other Total

r J i

Total

Industry

Hons.

M.Sc.

Preferred + Dip.

Ph. D.

464

Government Government Authority

B.Sc.

49 30

513

113

143

183

21 16

197

651

114

227

1164

114

Ph. D.

435

118

Other.

451

49 2

161

200

15 47

23 4

M.Sc.

4 -

Hons,

B.Sc.

121

582

142

166

1033

145

* 3 organizations did not reply to t h i s question + 11 organizations did not reply to t h i s question

Table 13 shows what type of organization present staff was recruited from. Because the questionnaire did not state that the five categories in this question were to be regarded as mutually exclusive, some employers included a staff member recruited overseas in both the 'Overseas1 total and another, e.g. f0n graduation1. Thus, while the total 'Prom overseas1 is fairly accurate, the other totals, especially, probably, !0n graduation1 and 'From other companies1, will be too high. On the other hand, in some replies the sum of the totals in each category was less than the total staff employed. Thi s will partly counterbalance the errors inferred to above. Figure 8 shows graphically;the provenance of geoscieritists currently employed by government organizations and industry. As mentioned above, there is some overlap; but the figures indicate that (a) the turnover of staff in industry is proportionately greater within segments of industry than from industry to government organizations; and that (b) the proportion of industry staff recruited from government organizations is no greater than the proportion of government staff recruited from other government organizations. The percentage of staff recruited by government organizations and industry from university staffs is comparatively small.

Qualifications In an attempt to find out how the pattern of graduation fitted employers1 wishes, employers were asked to nominate the minimum qualification they would prefer recruits to hold. The results are summarized in Table 14. Table 14a shows the number of organizations in each category; and since in this table each organization counts as one, whether it has one or 200 employees, Table 14b shows the number of staff represented by the firms listed in Table 14a. For example, among mining companies, 12 companies employing 113 geoscientists will accept diplomates, but only 2 companies employing 4 are satisfied with that level; 10 companies employing 143 geoscientists will accept pass graduates, and 7> employing

Table 15: Turnover of s t a f f

Type of Organization

Government Authority

Total Government

Mineral

! !

Consulting

Other

Net Gain

during

-1

Government

Mining

Gain %

Lost

Staff

No. of s t a f f (;as at 30,9,67} Engaged

Staff

Petroleum Exploration 21

Total

Exploration

Industry

1967

Total

Ro.of organi zations Losing Engaging

257

111

146

333

165

168

12.4

46, prefer them; and so on. Although we did not analyse this aspect, it seems that, in general, the preferred level is one step higher than the required level. It is to be expected that companies prefer the higher qualifications, and it docs not necessarily follow that they are dissatisfied with the recruits offering} but the table is a clear indication of the trend towards higher qualifications which University students would do v/ell to note.

Other aspects Turnover t The turnover of staff in the 12 months preceding September 1967 is shown in Table 15. Most organizations have been affected by staff changes: 96 have engaged staff and 50 (nearly all of which have also engaged staff) have lost one or more staff members. The numbers involved are also given and the net gain 3hows an expansion in the preceding 12 months of about 12 Executives; The definition of executive positions offered was: earth scientists who fare no longer principally active in the science'. This definition leaves considerable leeway for variations of judgment, and Table 16, therefore, is not truly objective. It is offered for what it is worth. Publication (Table 1 7 ) : Few companies completely forbid publication of original work; but the reader must make his own assessment of the intermediate category 'sometimes allowed1. Cadetships (Table 18): The entire industry offers 47 full time and 29 part-time cadetships, of which 28 and 9 respectively are offered by Governments.

Table 16: Geoscientists in executive p o s i t i o n s

No. of

No. of personnel

organizations

% of total staff

Government

Government Authority Mining

Mineral

Exploration

8.5.

Petroleum Exploration

Consulting

15.5 13

Other

128

8.3

Sometimes Allowed

No answer j i

Total i

Table 17:

Publication of o r i g i n a l work

u. Allowed

Not Allowed

Government

Government authority Mining

1 1

Consulting

9 14

3 1

15 20

Other

Mineral Exploration Petroleum Exploration

Table 13: O r g a n i z a t i o n s o f f e r i n g c a d e t s h i p s and nos, of p l a c e s

Type of

F u l l time study

Organization

offered*

P a r i t i n e study

No, of

No, o f

organizations

places

No. o f

organizations

No. of places 1

Government

Government authority

Mining

filineral E x p l o r a t i o n

Petrol eum -

Consulting

Other

Exploration

Total

* Some ways o f a s s i s t i n g s t a f f cannot be c a t e g o r i z e d , E.g, The Commonwealth Government a s s i s t s o f f i c e r s to undertake and complete degree c o u r s e s , both part and full

time; but no s t a t e d l i m i t

so a s s i s t e d .

i s placed on the number

The questionnaire did not ask about scholarships. The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy has compiled details of scholarships, cadetships, etc. in the metal and mineral industries. This lists about 120 full-time places, and in addition about 30 organizations award on unspecified number of places; the compilation lists 15 organizations which assist staff in part-time studies, and 19 which grant post-graduate scholarships. Some of the places are not available for earth science studies. Most, if not all, of the cadetships of Table 12 are probably included in the compilation. Whether or not the adequacy of these inducements is a factor in the current situation in which the demand for graduating geoscientists exceeds the supply (91 graduates entered the profession from Australian tertiary institutions in 1966-7> in face of 168 new positions (Table 9) and 293 vacancies (Table 3), is a matter for debate. We are inclined to think that it is a factor, but not a major one; but much more investigation of the influences that determine a student's course of study is needed before the information presented in Table 18 can be put into this context.

Bound at The Griffin Press, Adelaide.