CIS grads swamped;
salaries make jump
Editor's Note: These articles are part of
a series on the job-market outlook for
University graduates.
By GABRIEL BOEHMER
Of the Emerald
There's good news for Computer and
Information Science students —
graduates are finding jobs months
before they get their diploma, says CIS
department head Steve Hedetniemi.
And that’s not all the good news
The Chronicle of Higher Education
reports that the demand for computer
scientists is 40 percent greater than the
supply and that job recruiters are luring
graduates with salaries that have in
creased almost 40 percent in the last
three years.
And while the demand for profes
sional workers in the computer field is
expected to increase more than 25
percent this year, the employment of
computer specialists could more than
double by 1990, according to Chronicle
statistics.
But as higher education tightens its
purse strings, the University CIS
department can't find needed funding
to expand computer science programs
or to compete with salaries industries
offer faculty.
Enrollment in University computer
sciences courses jumped 34 percent
last year, forcing the department to
restrict enrollment.
Regardless, University CIS majors
are "setting up jobs months before they
leave here,” Hedetniemi says.
The average monthly salary now
offered to graduates with four-year
degrees in computer science increased
from $915 in 1974 to $1,558 in 1980 — a
70-percent increase, according to the
College Placement Council.
And Hedetniemi estimates graduates
with master’s degrees are offered aver
age monthly salaries of $1,833 — or
$22,000 a year.
However, higher salaries don’t just
draw students to computer science
programs. They also lure professors to
industry.
And as salaries increase, so do the
number of computer science graduates
— although not fast enough to match
the growth of the industry.
The percentage of computer science
degrees compared to total degrees
awarded nationally rose from .2 in 1970
to .8 in 1980. That figure is projected to
reach 1.0 by 1984, according to the
National Center for Educational Statis
tics.
But the statistics also indicate the
computer science field will be a male
dominated industry, at least in the short
run. Of the 7,201 computer science
degrees awarded in 1977-78, only
1,852 went to women and 5,349 went to
men.
Out-of-class training
aides CSPA job hunt
By ANN PORTAL
Ol the Emerald
The political science department and
the school of community service and
public affairs both offer general
knowledge and theory that should help
students find jobs.
But students are more likely to find a
job as a direct result of their CSPA
experience, says CSPA coordinator
Carol Johansen.
Each CSPA student is required to
complete one or two full-time field
placements as a part of the program.
The placements provide students with
documented work experience, which is
what public agency employers are
looking for, Johansen says.
"The reality of the job market is that
employers don't care what your school
and grades were. They want to know
what you can really do.
"Getting experience and going to
school is not easy to do.”
Agencies that employ CSPA students
as interns must provide a letter of
reference and an evaluation of the
student at the end of the term
are powerful bargaining tools in fffejob
market, Johansen says.
Most CSPA four-year graduates start
at the mid-management level
"You're not going to start at the
bottom," Johansen says.
In addition to internships at local )
community schools, law enforcement
agencies, public health agencies and
agencies that aid the handicapped, I
CSPA also provides interns for each I
legislative session. The two-term
internships give the students a "big i
edge in politics," Johansen says.
"The legislators treat their interns as
staff."
But even with field experience,
graduates have to be aggressive to find
obs, Johansen says.
Johansen says she suspects most
graduates leave Oregon, because of
the “real job crunch” here. But public
service jobs are available in Portland
and Southern Oregon, she says.
In contrast to CSPA's placement
ariented program, the political science
department doesn't provide job training
that leads to specific jobs, says
department head Lawrence Pierce.
"We don't see our task as preparing
Dur people for jobs," Pierce explains.
The department is more concerned
with providing the knowledge, back
ground and research methods to
srepare students for a variety of
careers in areas such as politics, jour
lalism, business, economics and law,
le says. Thirty percent of the school’s
najors are pre-law, he adds.
Political science enrollment in
leased about 17 percent over each of
he past two years, Pierce says.
Concerns about nuclear energy and
he environment also have stimulated
enrollment in those areas, Pierce adds.
Pierce estimates that 70 percent of
he department's undergraduates find
obs in the private sector, where salar
es are generally better
But many political science majors
lave no intention of using their degree
o find a specific job, Pierce says
"Most students just find it interest
ng"
j!'i in i";
• Graphic by Sioux Anderson
Employer's reaction:
a plus for physicists
By MARIAN GREEN
Of the Emerald
Although the University’s physics
and biology departments share many
similarities, they differ in one respect —
physics graduates are more likely to
find a job.
Physics graduates with four-year
degrees are ‘‘pretty much” finding
jobs, says David Sokoloff, physics
department associate head.
But the available jobs aren’t neces
sarily glamorous, Sokoloff warns.
Usually the jobs are technical, such
as conducting research on someone
else’s project, he says.
‘They’re not doing their own resear
ch in a lab.”
The salaries vary, and Sokoloff
guesses the salary range is $15,000
-18,000.
Sokoloff stresses that physics
graduates who become skilled in phy
sics-related areas, such as electronics
or computer science, will find in
creased job opportunities.
And the physics department offers an
electronics course for its majors, So
koloff says.
‘ People who take that course have
the kind of skills those people are look
ing for.”
For example, one physics student
had a good background in computer
science and took the physics
department’s electronics course. When
he graduated, he found a job with
Hewlett Packard company, Sokoloff
says. His starting salary was $26,000.
"If you have the right skills, you can
step right into them,” Sokoloff says of
the physics job market.
Sokoloff says the market has "had its
ups and downs,” but the Reagan ad
ministration may provide more jobs.
"If the defense budget goes up, a lot
of tangentially related areas will be
getting more money.”
In turn, related areas such as health
and nuclear waste management, will
need more physics employees, he says.
Of six recent graduates who
responded to a department question
aire, one found a job with a vision
research lab, another with Tektronix
company, another with Hewlett Pack
ard, two with observatories, and one
with a solar energy research organiza
tion.
But biology graduates will find a
tougher job market, says Gordon
Murphy, biology academic administra
tive assistant.
“There’s not somebody waiting to
give them a job,” Murphy says.
Graduates usually find jobs when
there are employment turnovers or
deaths, Murphy says.
Although jobs aren't readily
available, biologists' skills are needed
in a variety of disciplines, Murphy says.
As health services organizations
grow, biology majors have found more
jobs opening up in nursing, medicine
and research, he says.
Graduates can also find jobs in
federal, state and local governments.
Federal governments provide
biology-related jobs in agencies such
as the departments of Interior and
Defense, he says. State governments
also hire biologists in similar agencies
such as the state department of fish
and wildlife and the department of
environmental quality.
In local governments, graduates may
find jobs in health agencies, parks and
recreation departments or zoos,
Murphy adds.
Also, private industry provides jobs in
forest products, pharmaceutical and
pest control laboratories, he says.
However, teaching and research is
"probably one of the biggest
employers" of biology students at least
in public elementary and high schools,
he says.
Teaching jobs in universities and
community colleges are still “tight,” he
says.
Finally, non-profit organizations such
as the Wilderness Society and the
Sierra Club also hire biology graduates.
Energy crisis generates geology careers
By MARIAN GREEN
Of the Emerald
All the signs indicate that University
geology and chemistry department
graduates are finding jobs with ease.
For geologists, that's because of the
recent attention given to environment
and energy concerns, says Geology
Prof. William Holser.
“Geologists are in the forefront of
looking for oil, natural gas and uran
ium," Holser says.
And because there’s no end in sight
for the current energy crisis, "not only
the present market but also the poten
tial market is going to get a lot better
before it gets worse," he says.
Local governments also are paying
more attention to environmental con
cerns, and they often hire "at least one
geologist,” Holser says.
One reason for the steady job market
is that the oil companies have so much
money, says geology doctorate student
Cheryl Wilgus.
"Students seem to find jobs."
While most available jobs are in the
western half of the United States, Wil
gus warns that jobs in Oregon are
scarce.
"Students who love Oregon and want
to stay will have the most problems.”
Wilgus, who recently accepted a job
as Gulf Oil’s senior geologist, says
Denver and Houston are two of the best
areas for landing geology jobs.
Houston’s job prospects are good
because of its oil industry, and
Denver's job opportunities are good
because of its oil, gas and uranium
resources, Wilgus says.
But "it's a toss-up" as to which in
dustry, oil or mineral, hires more
geologists, Wilgus says.
But it’s not a toss-up when compar
ing industrial jobs to federal
government jobs such as those with the
U.S. Geological Survey.
Those jobs are "almost impossible to
get,” Wilgus says.
Most four-year graduates find jobs
with oil, gas or mineral industries, says.
Many graduates return to universities
to get advanced degrees
Salaries for four-year graduates start
at about $18,000 per year. Masters
graduate’s salaries begin at about
$26,000 per year, and doctorate
graduates salaries pay about
$30-35,000 per year, Wilgus says.
Wilgus says she expects the jobs and
high salaries to remain.
"There were times when geologists
couldn’t beg a job,” she says. "But I
don’t forsee that now because I don’t
think the energy crisis will be resolved
soon."
The job market also is good for che
mistry graduates, says chemistry
department head Robert Mazo.
A Chemical and Engineering News
article backs Mazo’s claim with a posi
tive prediction for 1981-82 chemists’
jobs.
‘‘Chemists are in good demand,
should have few problems getting jobs
in 1981," says the article’s headline.
The unemployment rate for chemists
decreased from 1.1 percent in 1979 to
.9 percent in 1980, the article says.
Job offers to four-year degree
holders in chemistry increased 13
percent from 1978-79 to 1979-80,
according to the University of California
at Berkeley’s career for planning and
placement.
For female chemists the job outlook
is even better, according to the center.
Its figures show job offers to women
jumped 26 percent from 1978-79 to
1979-80. Job offers to men increased 6
percent over the same period.
Graduates usually find jobs in the
chemical industries such as the plastic,
pharmaceutical and metal industries,
Mazo says. Jobs also are available in
government laboratories, he notes.
“Salaries have been going up but not
quite as fast as inflation,” Mazo says.
A “safe guess" for a four-year
graduate’s starting salary is $16,000, he
says.
While “a number of our students”
found jobs with Portland companies
and with Bend Research in Bend, in the
Eugene-Springfield area the chemical
industry is very small.
Chemical industry is "scattered all
over,” Mazo says, but the most thriving
job market is “probably California."
"Silicon Valley," located near San
Jose, and the San Francisco Bay Area
provide jobs because of prospering
petroleum — and other industries
located there, Mazo says.
“The bottom line is that for people
who want to stop their education to get
a job whether temporarily or otherwise,
the outlook is very good at this time "
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