Is it true? Engineers make more money than others?
For practical people, they choose a career that will give them the most lucrative lifestyle they could have. Their rule is to get a job that pays well no matter what it is as long as it is decent. Rarely do they follow their passions, grow a career and make money out of them.
If you are one of those practical people with a passion in engineering, you are winning in life.
That’s because having a degree in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields pay better than the others. Georgetown University economist Anthony Carnevale gathered data to prove the income disparities favoring graduates of STEM fields. His findings are below:
- 63 percent of STEM workers with associate’s degrees earn more than non-STEM workers with bachelor’s degrees.
- 26 percent of STEM workers with associate’s degrees earn more than non-STEM workers with doctorates.
- 65 percent of STEM workers with bachelor’s degrees earn more than non-STEM workers with master’s degrees.
- 47 percent of STEM workers with bachelor’s degrees earn more than non-STEM workers with doctorates.
- 61 percent of STEM workers with master’s degrees earn more than non-STEM workers with doctorates.
Such numbers signify that it doesn’t matter how far you’ve fared in your education, it’s also important what you study. Carnevale believes that the economy has shifted over the past 30 years to reward academic fields over educational attainment, hence the statistics.
This is discriminating against other professions outside STEM but it is every engineer’s right to know that you are in a field that is supposed to give you money you deserve for the services you offer. Paying for engineering college is no joke – quite an investment – and those who manage to make it out alive while thinking of college debt deserve to be informed if the choice is worth it. If the engineering job you have right now makes you feel that it really is worth it, you are in the right job; if it isn’t, consider leaving.
More than just keeping engineers informed, these findings by Carnevale should enlighten upcoming college students or among 18-year-olds to consider maximizing returns of investment from college by taking courses that pay better. And one of them is engineering.
