Continuing Educational Programs for Scientists and Engineers

A survey was conducted of the continuing educational programs conducted for scientists and engineers at the Air Force Geophysics Laboratory (AFGL) and the Electronic Systems Division (ESD). Both AFGL and ESD support an array of continuing educational activities, offer a variety of incentives to encourage participation, and provide ample training funds. AFGL and ESD scientists and engineers generally agreed that both organizations encourage participation in continuing educational activities. The types of continuing educational activities were considered valuable, and the specific incentives were effective in encouraging participation. Management training was thought to be more rewarding than technical training. More than half of the interviewees considered that maintaining technical expertise is not an effective way to enhance promotion prospects. The Air Force organizations generally provide the same continuing educational opportunities and incentives as two of their Federal Contract Research Center counterparts. The principal difference is that the two contractors emphasize in-house and during-duty hours programs. Even though scientists and engineers at AFGL and ESD rank classes during duty hours as the greatest incentive to participate in continuing education, overall participation at the Air Force institutions without this incentive is higher than at the contractors.