An Exploratory Study of Perceived Career Progress Among Civil Service Scientists and Engineers Assigned to Air Force Laboratories

An experimental study was conducted on scientists and engineers to determine the perceptions they had concerning their career progression. The data for the research was obtained through the use of a questionnaire which was distributed to a random sample of scientists and engineers working in the United States Air Force laboratories. The questionnaire asked the individuals sampled to rate their career aspirations, their career expectations, and to rate how conducive their job situation was in allowing them to reach their aspirations. In addition, they were asked to rate 5 factors of motivation recognition, advancement, responsibility, achievement, and the job itself, according to the level of the factor they perceived to be present in their jobs. They were also asked to assign a weight to each of these 5 factors according to the importance they felt each had to career progression. The sum of these weights would be equal to 100.