Government Social Research
On 10 February 2006, ESRC published a report (Demographic review of the UK social sciences)
Which says that concern has been expressed about the demographic profile of the academic workforce and that the current level of retirement is not being matched by new recruitment and retention within the sector.
In 2005 the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) commissioned a multidisciplinary research team, led by Dr David Mills of the University of Birmingham, to undertake a systematic analysis of the demographic profile of the UK social science community. The report reveals that the UK social science community is generally older than that of the natural and physical sciences. However, the report stresses that there is considerable variation within this picture, with some disciplines facing particularly acute problems and others being in a healthy state demographically, which suggests that discipline-specific capacity building strategies are necessary.
Seven key priority areas have been identified which need the greatest attention. These are Economics, Management and Business studies, Socio-Legal studies, Social Work, Language Based Area studies, Advanced Quantitative Methods and Education.
The full report can be viewed on the ESRC Society Today website (pdf).