How's that STEM education working out?
Much of the public enthusiasm for STEM education rests on the assumption that these fields are rich in job opportunity. Some are, some aren’t. STEM is an expansive category, spanning many disciplines and occupations, from software engineers and data scientists to geologists, astronomers and physicists.
What recent studies have made increasingly apparent is that the greatest number of high-paying STEM jobs are in the “T” (specifically, computing).
Earlier this year, Glassdoor, a jobs listing website, ranked the median base salary of workers in their first five years of employment by undergraduate major. Computer science topped the list ($70,000), followed by electrical engineering ($68,438). Biochemistry ($46,406) and biotechnology ($48,442) were among the lowest paying majors in the study, which also confirmed that women are generally underrepresented in STEM majors.
So study cybersecurity, not slime molds.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Taibhsear on Friday November 03 2017, @08:47PM (3 children)
We were told back in the early 2000's that our biochemistry degrees would merit us at least a $60,000 salary within five years. It hasn't exactly panned out that way. This new number looks more accurate. Like many other fields recently, the biotech companies expect assloads of experience in the field but no one will pay more than a "straight out of college, ramen & 2 roommates" salary for the positions. It's incredibly frustrating after being told we can do basically anything we want with our degree and earn a good living only to then get trickled on by these corporate douchenozzles.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday November 03 2017, @09:27PM (1 child)
I knew that was all bullshit, I did my degree for accomplishment much more than for Muh Sheckels. Better to be a lowly technician and happy than an H1-B and treated like a rented mule on a daily basis.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 04 2017, @01:44AM
The vast majority of people seem to think of schooling as a way to make more money. With that mentality, they'll only ever be mediocre at best. I have no idea why colleges and universities make their classes so easy that such people can actually graduate, but I guess it's because there is no incentive not to accept all that money.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 04 2017, @04:12AM
PhD molecular immunologist here. I'm only qualified for postdoc positions at ~40k after ~10 years of lab experience.