• Over the next decade, 1 million additional STEM graduates will be needed

• President Donald Trump is nudging young adults to consider STEM careers

• A child's zip code should not determine their STEM fluency

 

The areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math is commonly referred to as STEM. The term was coined a couple of decades ago and the acronym has since become part of mainstream vocabulary. Seen as an area where there is a serious dearth of skills, an area where jobs are poised to explode, an area where most of the high paying jobs are, an area where only the smartest minds thrive… the list of STEM related myths seems endless.

 

While it is easy to cherry pick specific instances of shortage in a given specialty, the US higher education produces more science and engineering graduates annually than there are job openings. Most studies report that real wages in many – but not all – science and engineering occupations have been rather flat, and unemployment numbers are as high compared to other comparably skilled occupations.

 

According to the National Science Foundation, which is the major source of federal backing for fields like mathematics, computer science, economics, and the social sciences (NSF funds approximately 25%, of all federally supported research conducted by US colleges and universities), while it is true that Science and engineering occupations are at the leading edge in an increasingly globalized world, college graduates employed in science and engineering occupations actually comprise only a small fraction of the workforce.

 

As a college applicant, it can be very appealing to consider a STEM major. However, the real question is whether a STEM major is the right choice for you. Students should think about what subjects naturally interest them and possible career choices related to those. It also behooves the applicant to understand the academic expectations for STEM majors. Have you taken advanced math and science courses in high school? Did you ace your AP Chemistry exam? Is developing creative problem-solving techniques your cup of tea? Most importantly, did you enjoy it?

 

It is easy to mix-up a STEM education with STEM jobs. It is true that the STEM job sector is growing much faster than non-STEM occupations. Dig a little bit deeper, and you will see some interesting details.

 

• STEM workers comprise only a small percentage of the workforce (in single digits)

• While STEM workers overall earn more than their counterparts, the greatest differential is seen in the lower level jobs; the higher the terminal degree, the less the earnings difference

• Success at and opportunities in STEM jobs don’t always show a direct correlation to a STEM degree. A third of STEM jobs are performed by professionals who do not hold STEM degrees. Over 40% of STEM managers hold non-STEM degrees. Conversely two-thirds of people holding STEM undergraduate degrees work in non-STEM jobs.

 

In short, the workplace is flexible, vibrant, and often unpredictable and how well you do in both college and career is  more of how much you enjoy what you do rather than whether your degree falls into bucket X or Y.

 

In a future post, we plan to cover some of the non-STEM areas in detail to give a flavor of some of the fabulous opportunities that exist in those areas. Many non-STEM areas are in fact closely linked to technology advances. As driver less cars, in-vitro fertilization and synthetic foods become commonplace, scientists have to work in tandem with specialists in other disciplines like public policy, international affairs, economics and psychology to determine implementation and ethical guidelines around these.

 

In the meanwhile, we urge you to do your own research, talk to current students who are pursuing STEM majors and non-STEM majors, and evaluate what you’d really like. Accounting, Art, Business, Dance, Economics, Finance, Legal, Medicine, Music, Nursing, Public Sector, Real Estate – there is a world of opportunities beyond STEM.

 

In summary, a STEM major is a great choice for many students as long as it is not a default choice and as long as it is not made for the wrong reasons e.g. choosing STEM solely for the job prospects. You risk a painful 4 years of college, studying what you do not enjoy and in all likelihood ending up with a job which you do not like. Instead, find an area that you enjoy and one that you personally find engaging and rewarding.

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College & Me is a series of articles featuring useful information related to College Admissions to undergraduate degree programs in US colleges.

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