Recall that fewer than one-half (46%) of the 2019 and 2020 physics bachelor’s degree recipients entered the workforce. The others went to graduate school (48%) or were unemployed (6%). In December, we saw that 59% of those who went to work took a job in the private sector. (Others were employed at colleges, universities, high schools, the military, and other fields.) Thus, just over one physics bachelors in four (27% = 59% × 46%) took a job in the private sector. Most of those in the private sector took jobs in engineering and computer science. About 22% of physics bachelors in the private sector were working in a non-STEM field (STEM = natural Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Almost two-thirds of those in non-STEM fields (14%/22% = 64%) reported they regularly solved technical problems.
Next month we will look at the starting salaries of new physics bachelors who entered the...