STEM graduates are more likely to land a job in a non-STEM field, according to an U.S. Census Bureau report released Thursday.
Liana Christin Landivar, a sociologist with the Census Bureau's Industry and Occupation Statistics Branch, said that graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) drift into other fields for employment. Nearly 75 percent of college students with bachelor's degrees in STEM disciplines find jobs in non-STEM occupations.
"STEM graduates have relatively low unemployment, however, these graduates are not necessarily employed in STEM occupations," said Landivar in a statement.
Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, said that STEM students are obtaining jobs in supply-chain management, inventory control and quality control - fields in which technical knowledge is necessary, Washington Post reports.
The report that surveyed 3.5 million homes also found that 50 percent of all holders of bachelor's degrees related to engineering, computers, math and statistics get recruited in a STEM job.
Plus, a high percentage men work in STEM fields, especially in engineering and computers occupations. About 86 percent of engineers and 74 percent of computer professionals are men, while women and minorities are under-represented.
Landivar said that one of the reasons students don't get hired at STEM jobs because STEM degrees provide a wide range of career options. For example: some biology majors may enrol at medical school to become doctors. And, Census Bureau does not classify doctors under STEM professionals.
