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Most STEM grads don't work in STEM jobs

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Re: Most STEM grads don't work in STEM jobs

#51

Post by torginus »

LASR wrote: post #41

There is a huge difference between software and non-software STEM jobs. The required education/qualifications are different. The job market is different. I graduated with a degree in Engineering Physics (non-sofware). I loved writing software as a hobby, but I wanted to "change the world" working at NASA or CERN or something. In my 3rd year a FAANG offered an internship that paid better than what I would hope to make…

It's kinda weird that your 1%er flex of owning a home would've been absolutely unremarkable for your typical working class Joe a couple of decades ago - sign of the times I guess.

Re: Most STEM grads don't work in STEM jobs

#52

Post by JumpCrisscross »

jdietrich wrote: post #35
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> CS grads are the most likely to work in their field post-graduation. It's the other majors bringing STEM down, like biology. Source? (Not challenging you. Curious to see how wide the range is across majors.)

https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2013/acs/acs-23...

Thank you. For the curious: 49% of "computers, mathematics, and statistics" majors in STEM jobs (51% including STEM-related) versus 15% (46%) for "biological, agricultural, and environmental sciences" [1].

(Engineering is 49% (51%) while social sciences is 7% (11%).)

[1] https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2013/acs/acs-23... Table 10

Re: Most STEM grads don't work in STEM jobs

#53

Post by ghostpepper »

torginus wrote: post #43
wharvle wrote: post #7

> The Census Bureau reported in 2021 that a paltry 28% of STEM grads are working in these supposedly in-demand, highly paid and important STEM jobs. These include diverse sectors such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and energy, but about half of STEM jobs are in computers, and tech firms typically complain the loudest of STEM shortages. I’ve long suspected that the whole “STEM” education movement is a way for big tech…

The thing is even though I went to school for EE, I found it weird that EE jobs demanded an incredibly wide and difficult to obtain skillset, including rudimentary CS knowledge, yet paid less than what I could sell said CS knowledge for. We live in a society.

I would go back from software to EE in a heartbeat if the compensation was even remotely comparable

Re: Most STEM grads don't work in STEM jobs

#56

Post by mp05 »

troupe wrote: post #37
mp05 wrote: post #22

I say this with 90% sincerity: I thought this was STEAM now? But with all seriousness... I went to university out of high school in 2005 to get a mech engineering degree but never finished because I liked to party too hard and web dev was easy and paid better than most people I knew with entry-level engineering jobs. Flash forward to now as a non-trad student and I'm in my 400-level coursework. It's all easier than i…

So you think the classes are much easier? Might it be related to your life experience and focus you have now? Or are there things that simply aren't are rigorous as it used to be?

It's hard to say, it may be both! But we get a page of notes for every exam in all of my classes pretty much without exception. I don't recall that ever being a thing.

Re: Most STEM grads don't work in STEM jobs

#57

Post by jansan »

whispersnow wrote: post #6

Define “STEM” jobs

Wearing a lab coat and writing very difficult math equations and complicated lewis structures on a huge piece of acrylic glass. Everything else does not count.

Joking aside, every job that requires knowledge from a STEM field that goes beyond standard high school education.

Re: Most STEM grads don't work in STEM jobs

#58

Post by al_borland »

devwastaken wrote: post #4

STEM students can't apply for internships because they are on site and will not pay for relocation, will not pay for housing, and rent leases rarely will do short durations. Most grads get those because their family+friends had the resources to help them be successfull. Living in a large city with stem jobs and having an extra room. As housing capital is squeezed so is the nation. The trend is not improving, many oth…

I worked a STEM job near a campus we got interns from. It was $26/hr, which at the time was more than we paid contractors for the same work, and possibly more than some entry level direct hires. They could work around school as much as they wanted, we had people there 24x7, so they could set their own hours… as little or as much as they wanted. It was just a few miles from campus, so they already had housing. And with all that, our biggest issue was them deciding to stop showing up after a while. It blew my mind how many of them just stopped coming to work.

Re: Most STEM grads don't work in STEM jobs

#59

Post by rockemsockem »

netbioserror wrote: post #33
wharvle wrote: post #7

> The Census Bureau reported in 2021 that a paltry 28% of STEM grads are working in these supposedly in-demand, highly paid and important STEM jobs. These include diverse sectors such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and energy, but about half of STEM jobs are in computers, and tech firms typically complain the loudest of STEM shortages. I’ve long suspected that the whole “STEM” education movement is a way for big tech…

I must be really lucky. I work at a smaller engineering company, working for engineering clients, making software that analyses engineering data, and I get to use the languages and tools I want. I must be a unicorn at this point given how miserable most programmers seem to be.

I don't think hacker news is the best way to see how miserable most folks are.

Re: Most STEM grads don't work in STEM jobs

#60

Post by JumpCrisscross »

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #21
wharvle wrote: post #7

> The Census Bureau reported in 2021 that a paltry 28% of STEM grads are working in these supposedly in-demand, highly paid and important STEM jobs. These include diverse sectors such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and energy, but about half of STEM jobs are in computers, and tech firms typically complain the loudest of STEM shortages. I’ve long suspected that the whole “STEM” education movement is a way for big tech…

>STEM reality: we got you to confuse an ad for a search result 0.5% more often. That couldn't be more false. The vast majority of STEM jobs do not pushing ads to people., only FAANGS and such which are a minority of the total STEM jobs.

> vast majority of STEM jobs do not pushing ads to people., only FAANGS and such which are a minority of the total STEM jobs

A majority of STEM jobs fall under a category with "computer" or "software" in it [1]. Unless a majority of those are in adtech, you are correct.

[1] https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2013/acs/acs-23... Table 7

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