The number of college graduates in the United States nearly doubled between 1993 and 2013, according to a new report from the National Science Foundation’s National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
The report details that the number of graduates with degrees in science and engineering (S&E) fields grew faster than the number of those with other types of degrees. In 2013, 27 percent of graduates held degrees in S&E fields. Roughly 1 in 10 graduates were employed in S&E occupations, a proportion that has remained largely unchanged since 1993.
Although women accounted for more than half of the college graduate population in 2013, they constituted only 29 percent of those employed in S&E jobs.
Within the college graduate population, an S&E-related degree has a significant impact on salary, according to the report. The median salaries for degree holders in S&E and S&E-related occupations were $80,000 and $65,000, respectively, while the median annual salary for college graduates in other fields was $51,000. Those with advanced degrees working in the sciences generally earn higher salaries.
S&E skills are in demand across the U.S. economy, not just in occupations classified as S&E fields. Nearly half of the employed college graduates with degrees in S&E reported working in S&E or related jobs. But of those working in areas outside of S&E, 62 percent reported that their jobs were related to their degrees.
Although 6 million graduates were employed in S&E in 2013, 18 million reported that their jobs required at least a bachelor’s degree in one or more S&E fields.
Data for the report are from the 2013 National Survey of College Graduates, which has gathered data on the nation’s college graduates since the 1970s, with a particular focus on the S&E workforce.