According to a new study from Georgetown University, employers are placing more value than ever on degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
The study’s co-author, Anthony Carnevale, argues that science and technical degrees have “become the common currency in the labor market,” allowing graduates more opportunities than their peers in the humanities and liberal arts.
According to the study, 65 percent of STEM bachelor’s degree graduates will earn more than their peers who obtained master’s degrees in nontechnical fields, even though the majority of STEM graduates do not follow science-related  career paths.
The study found only 10 percent of students who graduate with a STEM degree actually enter a related field such as engineering or physical science. The report argues most of these graduates forgo technical careers for higher-paid opportunities in areas like medicine, law and finance. Many graduates also enter related fields before quickly reaching their earning potential and either switching career paths or entering higher-paying managerial positions.
I worry the report may be sugar-coating the reality many young science graduates are facing every day. A STEM degree is no longer a surefire path to a job in the sciences, as many pure science graduates especially have trouble finding jobs in their fields.
The high proportion of STEM graduates entering nontechnical fields may be an indication that many of them are underemployed and unable to find the job they want, despite the increased earning potential their degree brings them.
STEM programs and faculty should do a better job of preparing their students for the possibility they might not find work directly related to their field, and help students cultivate their nontechnical skills while in school.
Science majors must also be wary of a lack of job prospects in academia, which has become increasingly competitive as the number of PhDs increases while the number of faculty positions remains the same.
This stalling of academic positions has caused a massive increase in the number of PhDs who are forced to take multiple temporary postdoctoral positions before finally landing a tenure-track job or quitting academia entirely.
Grants from organizations like the National Science Foundation make obtaining and holding academic positions possible, but research dollars have been hard to come by as the endowments of scientific organizations struggled to keep pace with inflation even before the economic downturn.
Many young academics are required to land major research grants to obtain tenured faculty positions, but over time this process has become increasingly difficult as a growing class of young academics fight for scraps from tenured professors. In 1970, the average age academics received their first major grant was 35, while in 2005 the average age rose to 43.
Doctoral programs need to better prepare their students for the growing possibility they will enter a field as something other than an academic researcher, and restructure their educational system accordingly.
The massive time investment required to obtain a PhD in the United States worries some observers when doctoral programs in countries like the United Kingdom award doctorate degrees in almost half the time of their American counterparts. Professors and universities are incentivized to keep their graduate students for longer, as their quality of research increases over time.
Extending the amount of time doctoral candidates spend on research may not be beneficial to students who are becoming increasingly likely to take jobs outside of research.
While high-earning potential and employment for STEM graduates is definitely good news, students should be better prepared for their likely job prospects, since statistically STEM graduates are unlikely to find STEM positions.
Encouraging technical students to take classes outside of their program, in areas likely to affect their future careers like business and communications, could go a long way in preparing graduates for the unscientific job market.
 
Andrew Shockey is a 21-year-old biological engineering junior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_Ashockey.
 
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Contact Andrew Shockey at [email protected]