The majority of STEM bachelor's degree holders--about 75 percent--don't work in STEM fields, according to the Census Bureau. However, those who studied engineering, computing, math or statistics were more likely to be employed in STEM, while physical and social science majors were less likely to go into the STEM workforce.
These findings indicate that the skills imparted by STEM education programs have a broad appeal. It is not clear from this data if students with STEM education not working in STEM fields are earning wages commensurate to the high wages typically associated with STEM jobs.
In addition, this analysis found that men continue to be overrepresented in STEM fields, particularly engineering. Approximately 14 percent of engineers and 26 percent of computer professionals were women. Higher percentages of women were found among mathematicians and statisticians (45 percent), life scientists (47 percent) and social scientists (63 percent).
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