This is the seventh report on the experience of new political scientists looking for jobs. Two years have passed since the last report, which was based upon placement data for 1977. In this report on placement data collected in 1978 and 1979, there are some changes in who succeeds in finding jobs and in what kinds of jobs they find. These changes may be an indication of professional adjustment to the realities of the academic job market.

The 1977 placement report examined the academic job market for political scientists in the next two decades, and pointed out that the projected decline in college enrollments until 1994 means that nearly all of the positions open to new faculty will be generated by the need to replace current faculty who die, retire or move to non-teaching jobs. Since the median age of political scientists is in the mid-30s, we were told that there will be few openings due to retirements until the mid-1990s. And, we were left with the question as to whether, in view of the limited supply of academic job opportunities, the profession will make changes in its graduate curricula and/or its placement strategies. In addressing this question with respect to the 1978 and 1979 placement classes, it is useful to summarize what has remained constant in the placement of political scientists in order to highlight what has changed.