A report released earlier this month by the U.S. Census Bureau reveals that only about a quarter of recent STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) graduates wind up working in STEM jobs.
Obviously, educators, legislators, and employers themselves ought to stop all this cheerleading for STEM courses and focus instead on more high-demand fields. Right?
Not so fast. Like most things that appear simple on the surface, this bears a little additional scrutiny. It turns out that, yes, the headline is technically accurate: 1 in 4. But dig a bit deeper and it seems that STEM grads, with the knowledge and skills they’ve acquired, are doing very well in the job market.
It appears that a significant reason that three of four end up outside the strictly defined STEM field is not that there aren’t enough STEM jobs available; it’s because these grads are in demand across a wide spectrum of occupations.
They can, in other words, pick and choose, and as a result have one of the lowest unemployment rates of any major. Thinking critically, analyzing and understanding complex data, problem-solving, and decision-making are decidedly STEM-related abilities, and they’re valued in almost every career field.
The chart reproduced below shows who’s working in STEM and STEM-related jobs, and in addition offers a clear look at the relative underrepresentation of women in the field — a situation that many members of the House Democratic Caucus are working to address.
But for a far more detailed view of STEM vs. non-STEM employment figures, including demographics, someone at the Census Bureau – apparently someone with a triple-major in statistics, computer science, and visual art – has created an amazing interactive graphic that answers almost every conceivable question one might have about the value of STEM education.
Take several looks.
