Abstract :
New trends are developing in the United States´ supply of scientific and engineering manpower. Students appear to be losing interest in science and engineering; at the same time, there is concern about an over-supply of Ph.D.´s. Underlying this oversupply is a disturbing fact of life: In the 1970s, the universities and the defense and space industries will have very limited need for new Ph.D.´s. The situation calls for an agonizing reexamination and reorientation of both the content of and attitudes toward the Ph.D. degree.
