An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Bureau of Labor Statistics > Occupational Requirements Survey > Publications > Factsheets

Life, physical, and social science occupations

This occupational group includes agricultural scientists, food scientists, biological scientists, medical scientists, astronomers, physicists, chemists, hydrologists, economists, survey researchers, psychologists, sociologists, urban planners, anthropologists, archeologists, geographers, historians, political scientists, and nuclear technicians.

For terms and definitions in this profile, see definitions of major terms.

Cognitive and mental requirements

The qualifications that workers need to use judgment, make decisions, interact with others, and adapt to changes in jobs.

In 2025, more than basic people skills were required for 89.8 percent of life, physical, and social science workers. Basic people skills were required for 10.2 percent.

Table 1. Percentage of life, physical, and social science workers with cognitive and mental requirements, 2025
Requirement	Yes	No
Work schedule varies	35.2	64.8
Ability to pause work (and take brief unscheduled breaks)	82.8	17.2
Working around crowds	<5	>95
Telework routinely allowed	13.7	86.3
Supervising others	15.1	84.9
Supervisor present in immediate work area	41.0	59.0
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey

Education, training, and experience requirements

The minimum level of formal education required, credentials necessary, on-the-job training, and prior work experience necessary for average performance in jobs. The time associated with these requirements is combined to calculate the specific vocational preparation level needed for the job.

In 2025, prior work experience was required for 66.3 percent of life, physical, and social science workers and on-the-job training was required for 62.0 percent.

A bachelor's degree was required for 50.6 percent of life, physical, and social science workers.

Environmental conditions

The various hazards or difficulties that are in the area where workers perform their critical tasks.

In 2025, a quiet noise exposure was present for 18.2 percent of life, physical, and social science workers. Another 81.6 percent were exposed to moderate noise, less than 0.5 percent were exposed to loud noise, and less than 0.5 percent to very loud noise. Personal protective equipment (PPE) was used by 18.6 percent of workers to mitigate noise exposure and was not used by 81.4 percent.

Physical demands

The physical activities required to perform tasks in jobs. The presence and, in some cases, duration of these activities are published.

In 2025, speaking was required for greater than 99.5 percent of life, physical, and social science workers and was not required for less than 0.5 percent. For 4.1 percent of workers, speaking was seldom required, for 68.6 percent speaking was occasionally required, for 27.2 percent speaking was frequently required, and for less than 0.5 percent speaking was required constantly.

Performing work in low postures was required for 63.5 percent of life, physical, and social science workers and was not required for 36.5 percent.

The choice to sit or stand when performing critical tasks was available to 56.3 percent of life, physical, and social science workers. On average, workers spent 60.7 percent of the workday sitting and 39.3 percent of the workday standing.

Table 2. Percentage of life, physical, and social science workers with physical demands, 2025
Requirement	Yes	No
Ability to choose to sit or stand for tasks	56.3	43.7
Driving	51.3	48.7
Climbing structure-related ramps or stairs	19.6	80.4
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey