An Analysis Of The Validity Of Commercial Industry employment Barriers Facing Unemployed aerospace Engineers And Aerospace Scientists

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dc.contributor.author Ware, Frederick Anderson, Jr.
dc.coverage.spatial Huntsville, Alabama; Cape Kennedy, Florida; Atlanta, Georgia en_US
dc.coverage.temporal 1968-1973 en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2014-08-13T14:07:09Z
dc.date.available 2014-08-13T14:07:09Z
dc.date.issued 1973-12
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10428/1740
dc.description.abstract The purpose of this dissertation was to study the conditions associated with the hiring of former aerospace scientists and engineers in commercial (non-aerospace) industry, and to examine the validity of certain apparent employment barriers. These particular barriers were hypothesized to be presuppositions by commercial industry employment managers based on incorrect information, such as anticipated behavior patterns of ex-aerospace employees. The investigation also identified other barriers to commercial employment. Dependency relationships were determined between certain attributes of former aerospace professionals and their behavior patterns. Attributes and behavior of commercial industry employment managers were also examined for dependency relationships. Two mail-questionnaire surveys were conducted concurrently, one to 614 unemployed or once-unemployed individual aerospace scientists and engineers and another to 300 employment managers of commercial firms. The sample covered individuals who had been laid off from three major areas of high-aerospace unemployment: Huntsville, Alabama; Cape Kennedy, Florida; and Atlanta, Georgia. The commercial firms were the one-hundred largest (by employment) corporations in the states of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Response rates exceeded 60% for both surveys. The following hypotheses were tested: 1. A barrier to employment is the widely held presupposition by non-aerospace employers that former aerospace engineers and scientists will return to aerospace work when it is offered. 2. Once employed in a non-aerospace job which is not merely of an emergency stop-gap nature, paying substantially less than the amount earned in aerospace, most former aerospace scientists and engineers will not return to aerospace work when given the opportunity. 3. A barrier to employment is the widely held presupposition by non-aerospace employers that former aerospace engineers and scientists are, or will become, dissatisfied and poorly motivated in non-aerospace work due to their previous high salary ranges, more challenging jobs and general over qualifications. 4. A majority of former aerospace engineers and scientists adapt readily to non-aerospace work and become effective, motivated and satisfied employees. Sample proportions were used as estimates of population proportions and independency was examined with the chi-square statistic. The first and third hypotheses were rejected; the second and fourth hypotheses were accepted. Statistically significant dependency was found between an individual's tendency to eventually return to aerospace employment and the attributes of age, highest college degree held, and state where the layoff took place. Dependency was also seen in a commercial firm's general industrial classification and its tendency to hire ex-aerospace professionals. The study indicated that the most significant barrier to commercial employment faced by former aerospace scientists and engineers is the lack of non-aerospace experience or overspecialization. Recommendations were made that further study be done on the overspecialization problem and the potential problem of aerospace manpower shortages. en_US
dc.description.tableofcontents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii LIST OF TABLES . vi LIST OF FIGURES viii ABSTRACT . . ix Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 BACKGROUND . 13 Severity of the Problem 13 3 4 Remedial Actions . . . . . . . 15 Historical Experience and Related Research . . . . . . . 24 Background Summary . . . . . . . . . . 27 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY . COLLECTION OF DATA . . Data from Individual Engineers and Scientists . . . Data from Commercial Firms . . . . . . 28 35 35 45 5 ANALYSIS OF DATA . . 51 6 Data Reduction . . Hypothesis Testing . Identification of Related Employment Barriers . . Statistical Independency . Profiles . . . . . . . SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY iv 51 55 66 70 82 84 APPENDIX BIBLIOGRAPHY VITA Summary Conclusions Recommendations for Further study v 84 89 91 93 107 113 en_US
dc.language.iso en_US en_US
dc.subject Aerospace Industry en_US
dc.subject Unemployment en_US
dc.subject Astronautics en_US
dc.subject Technology Mobilization and Reemployment Program en_US
dc.subject Huntsville--Alabama en_US
dc.subject Cape Kennedy--Florida en_US
dc.subject Atlanta--Georgia en_US
dc.subject Public Sector en_US
dc.subject Private Sector en_US
dc.subject Aerospace Engineers en_US
dc.title An Analysis Of The Validity Of Commercial Industry employment Barriers Facing Unemployed aerospace Engineers And Aerospace Scientists en_US
dc.type Dissertation en_US
dc.contributor.department Business Administration en_US
dc.description.advisor Robertson, Leon
dc.description.committee Jordan, Augustus E.
dc.description.committee Techo, Robert
dc.description.committee Young, Harley B.
dc.description.degree Ph.D en_US
dc.description.major Philosophy en_US


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