So many college graduates are working in fields that are not what they graduated in. I am not talking about non-Stem degrees, but even people with STEM-related degrees not getting jobs in their fields.
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I am a STEM professor. There’s no one answer to this question but here’s a few different scenarios I notice.
A lot of students choose stem early and it is a hard and strenuous degree (no shade on other degrees, every degree is hard in its own way). Many students take a break and don’t apply for jobs right away and then stray from stem.
We lose a lot of females, somewhat probably to being stay at home parents. STEM jobs have the reputation of having a large work:life time ratio and that scares off a lot of moms. In reality there are quite a few options that have 9 to 5 schedules or the equivalent.
STEM is hard (again no shade to other degrees every field is hard in its own way) and has a reputation for being hard. It is exhausting and a lot of people realize that after their degree and decide to choose alternative careers.
A lot of STEM careers require advanced degrees, masters phds. Many undergrads do not want to attend grad school after 4 years of a STEM bachelor’s. This narrows the job pool.
STEM professors unfortunately are not the most…supportive or encouraging group of faculty. I’ve been told I’m stupid, I’d never make it, no would hire me as faculty because I am a woman in a very male dominated field of STEM, been told I’d never make it through grad school. I’ve experienced sexism rampantly. I’ve seen racism and homophobia and was told to ignore it bc the faculty who were the antagonists were prestigious and would ruin my career. This stuff doesn’t exactly make the field appealing to many. STEM is a long tough road and requires a lot of passion for the field to stick with it.
Another thing is job applicants are either undergrads with zero real idea the majority of the time what types of jobs they qualify for or graduate students who have an idea but lack any confidence pretty much after 5 years of graduate school. Job postings are confusing, intimidating, and often have odd requirements that were suggested by staff to HR and then butchered by HR. I CANNOT OFFER ANY GREATER PIECE OF ADVICE TO PEOPLE APPLYING TO STEM POSITIONS. APPLY FOR EVERYTHING. Asking for 5 years experience? Say your grad degree of 5 years counts towards experience because xyz. Asking for a chemical engineer and you’re a chemist? Apply and explain the overlap. A biologist applying for a position requiring a degree in mathematics? Biologists in grad school and undergrad do a ton of stats. Read the job description and if you think you know enough to be effectively trained to do the job then give it a shot. Worst thing is you get weeded out and never called. Lots of places will hire people that do not even close to fit the description. Hard part sometimes is landing an interview but a lot of luck goes into that whether you fit the description or not. So GO FOR IT.
Ok in true professor fashion I am rambling like a maniac to a wall so I’ll end it here
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