Physics graduates at work

Physics graduates at work. The employment sectors, job satisfaction, and salaries of physics bachelor’s degree recipients in the US who joined the workforce are detailed in Physics Bachelor’s Initial Employment, a new report by the Statistical Research Center at the American Institute of Physics.

From the classes of 2009 and 2010, 60% enrolled in graduate programs. Of the 40% who entered the workforce, just over half found work in the private sector. Three quarters of those were in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, with typical annual salaries ranging from $39 000 to $60 000. Private-sector jobs in non-STEM fields were in such areas as finance, food service, sales, and manual labor and paid from $20 000 to $52 000 a year.

Among other graduates entering the workforce, 13% worked in colleges and universities and earned $25 000–$40 000; 11% became high school teachers with salaries between $31 000 and $44 000; 10% took jobs in civilian government and national laboratories and made $37 000–$58 000; 8% entered the military with incomes of $33 000–$47 000; and 5% found work in other areas.

More than 80% of physics bachelors working in the private sector in STEM fields reported overall satisfaction with their jobs; in non-STEM fields, 71% said the same, but only one-third said they were satisfied with the degree of intellectual challenge demanded of them. Approximately 90% of graduates working in the military, in government labs, and as high school teachers reported being satisfied.

The full report can be downloaded at http://www.aip.org/statistics/trends/emptrends.html .