Among scientists and engineers, more men than women were employed full time in 2019 (13.3 million men versus 10.7 million women) and about twice as many women were employed part time (3.0 million women versus 1.6 million men) (figure 28).

Among those working part time, the share wanting to work full time was slightly higher for men than for women. However, the reasons for working part time varied. A larger share of women than men reported that family responsibilities resulted in their part-time work schedules. Men and women working part time did not differ in their rates of reporting that a full-time job was not available, which may be an indicator of overall economic conditions rather than of an individual’s situation. In 2019, this category of part-time workers, part time for economic reasons, was only 11.9% of the U.S. labor force that was employed part time, whereas among scientists and engineers working part time and who wanted full-time work, 23.6% of women and 21.6% of men reported full-time work was not available among their reasons for working part time (figure 29).

Among scientists and engineers, the numbers of unemployed men and women—those who are not working but are looking for work—are close, about 400,000 each. Those who are not working but looking for work are considered part of the U.S. labor force, along with employed scientists and engineers. Almost three times as many female scientists and engineers as their male counterparts reported that they are not employed, not looking for work, and not retired. Although scientists and engineers who are not working and not looking are not considered part of the U.S. labor force, they are considered part of the science and engineering workforce.

In reporting reasons for not working among scientists and engineers, a larger share of women than men cited family responsibilities (27.2% versus 6.1%). However, the share of women who reported that a suitable job was not available was similar to that of men. A larger proportion of men than women reported being retired. Some of these differences may be attributed to the differences in the age distributions of scientists and engineers who are men compared with the distributions of those who are women (figure 30).

Two-thirds of scientists and engineers employed full time are White. White scientists and engineers represent a larger share of those not in the labor force because of retirement (84.3%) than do those from other racial or ethnic groups (figure 31). Some of these differences in employment by race and ethnicity may be attributed to the differences in the age distributions within each group. For example, a larger share of older cohorts of scientists and engineers are employed and have a higher representation of White individuals, compared with recent waves of graduates.

About 10% of employed scientists and engineers reported having one or more disabilities, that is, difficulties in seeing (with glasses); hearing (with hearing aid); walking without assistance; lifting 10 pounds; or concentrating, remembering, or making decisions. Men had a higher disability rate than did women (11.1% versus 9.3%). This is because reported disabilities increase with age and because men made up a larger share of scientists and engineers ages 50 and over than did women (36.9% versus 30.3%). Asians had a lower disability rate (7.7%), and underrepresented minorities had a higher rate (12.3%), compared with the overall disability rate for employed scientists and engineers (figure 32).