U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

Education Supports Racial and Ethnic

By

David Beede,

Tiffany Julian,

Beethika Khan,

Rebecca

Lehrman,

George

McKittrick,

David Langdon,

and

Mark Doms,

Office of the

Chief Economist

ESA
 

Issue Brief
 

#05‐11
 

September
 

2011
 

Equality in STEM
 

Executive Summary

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workers are essential to American innova‐

tion and competitiveness in an increasingly dynamic and global marketplace. In this third re‐

port, we examine demographic disparities in STEM education and find that educational attainment

may affect equality of opportunity in these critical, high‐quality jobs of the future.

This report follows an analysis of labor market outcomes and gender disparities among STEM

workers. We find that regardless of race and Hispanic origin, higher college graduation rates are

associated with higher shares of workers with STEM jobs. But non‐Hispanic Whites and Asians are

much more likely than other minority groups to have a bachelor’s degree. By increasing the num‐

bers of STEM workers among currently underrepresented groups through education we can help

ensure America’s future as a global leader in technology and innovation.

Other key findings of this report include:

	 Non‐Hispanic Whites comprise the largest group of STEM workers, accounting for about seven

out of ten STEM workers, which aligns closely with their share of the overall workforce.

	 Non‐Hispanic Asians are most likely (42 percent) to graduate college with a STEM degree, while

the propensities of other groups are all fairly similar (17‐22 percent).

	 Half of all non‐Hispanic Asian workers with STEM degrees have STEM jobs, compared to 30

percent of Hispanics and non‐Hispanic Black and American Indian and Alaska Native workers.

	 One in five STEM workers is foreign‐born, of which 63 percent come from Asia.

	 STEM workers in all demographic groups, including the foreign‐born, earn more than their non‐

STEM counterparts. Hispanics and non‐Hispanic Blacks receive a significantly larger STEM pre‐

mium than do non‐Hispanic Whites.

Figure 1. Share of Workers with STEM Jobs, by Race and Hispanic Origin, 2009

2%

3% 3%	 

15% 16%

14%

12% Overall share:

5.3% 10%

8%

6% 6%

6%

4%

2%

0%

White, non‐ Asian, non‐ Hispanic Black, non‐ AIAN, non‐ Other, non‐

Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic

Source: ESA calculations from American Community Survey public‐use microdata.
 

Note: Estimates are for employed persons age 16 and over. See box on next page for definitions of race and Hispanic origin used in this report.
 
             

             

         

             

              

           

                 

           

       

        

         

           

             

           

           

      

                 

                

                  

        

               

                   

             

     

                  

             

             

         

             

                   

                 

               

     

         

                 

               

                 

               

         

             

                   

         

                   

             

         

             

               

               

                 

             

             

                   

                 

                 

             

                 

             

               

         

                 

               

  

             

                 

  

       

         

         

                

                 

             

               

              

             

               

             

           

               

               

           

               

               

                 

               

               

   

The Commerce Department’s Economics and

Statistics Administration has released two other

reports on STEM workers. The first, STEM: Good

Jobs Now and for the Future, was released in

July 2011. The second, Women in STEM: A Gen‐

der Gap to Innovation, was released in August

2011. Both reports can be found at http://

www.esa.doc.gov/reports.

This report uses six non‐overlapping groups to

study STEM workers by race and Hispanic origin:

White alone, not Hispanic; Black alone, not His‐

panic; Asian alone, not Hispanic; American In‐

dian or Alaska Native alone, not Hispanic (AIAN);

Other, not Hispanic; and Hispanic of any race.

The “Other” race category includes Native Ha‐

waiian or Other Pacific Islanders; other races not

listed in this report; and people who reported

two or more races. In some figures, AIAN and

Other are combined in a category called “All

other” when the number of AIAN observations is

too small.

What is STEM?

The acronym STEM is fairly specific in nature—

referring to science, technology, engineering and

math—however, there is no standard definition for

what constitutes a STEM job. Science, technology,

engineering and math positions consistently make

the lists of STEM occupations, but there is less

agreement about whether to include other posi‐

tions  ‐‐ such as educators, managers, technicians,

health‐care professionals and/or social scientists.

In this report, the Commerce Department’s Eco‐

nomics and Statistics Administration (ESA) defines

STEM jobs to include professional and technical

support occupations in the fields of computer sci‐

ence and mathematics, engineering, and life and

physical sciences. Three management occupations

are also included because of their clear ties to

STEM.1 Education jobs are not included because of

the nature of the available data.2 In addition, social

scientists are not included.3

Our STEM list contains 50 specific occupation codes

(see Appendix Table 1), and in 2009, there were 7.4

million workers in these jobs, representing 5.3 per‐

cent of the workforce. To put these jobs into con‐

text, we divide STEM occupations into four catego‐

ries: computer and math, engineering, physical and

life sciences, and STEM managerial occupations.4

Across all levels of educational attainment, the larg‐

est group of STEM jobs is within the computer and

math fields, which account for close to half (47 per‐

cent) of all STEM employment. Second are engi‐

neering and surveying occupations, representing

approximately one‐third of all STEM employment,

while 12 percent are in the physical and life sci‐

ences, and 8 percent in STEM management jobs.5

Parallel to our list of STEM occupations, we also

identify a set of STEM undergraduate degree fields

that span computer science and mathematics, engi‐

neering, and life and physical sciences (see Appen‐

dix Table 2). We define STEM degree holders as

persons whose primary or secondary undergradu‐

ate major was in a STEM field. Consistent with the

occupations selected for this report, we exclude

business, healthcare, and social science majors.6

STEM Employment by
 

Race and Hispanic Origin
 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2009 Ameri‐

can Community Survey (ACS), almost three out of

four STEM jobs (72 percent) are held by non‐

Hispanic Whites (See Figure 2), which is close to

their overall representation in the U.S. workforce

(68 percent). In contrast, non‐Hispanic Asians make

up 14 percent of all STEM workers but only five

percent of the U.S. workforce — almost three times

as many non‐Hispanic Asians hold a STEM job as

would be expected based on their overall represen‐

tation in the workforce. However, only half as many

non‐Hispanic Black or Hispanic workers have STEM

jobs relative to their overall representation in the

U.S. workforce. (Non‐Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics

each account for six percent of all STEM workers,

but 11 percent and 14 percent, respectively, of

overall employment.)

Over the past decade, the share of non‐Hispanic

Whites in the STEM workforce has fallen about six

2 U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration
             

               

                     

           

                 

                 

                   

               

               

             

             

                 

               

           

                 

                 

           

             

                 

               

           

               

                 

           

         

               

               

                 

         

                   

           

                 

           

   

               

             

                    

             

               

               

               

             

                 

       

               

           

               

                 

               

                     

                  

               

               

     

         

                           

                       

                                              

   

Figure 2. Distribution of STEM Workers by Race and Hispanic Origin, 2000 and 2009

78%

72% 2000

2009

10% 14%

5% 6% 6% 6% 2% 2%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

White, non‐ Asian, non‐ Hispanic Black, non‐ All other, non‐

Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic
 

Source: ESA calculations from 2000 Census and American Community Survey public‐use microdata.
 

Note: Estimates are for employed persons age 16 and over. The data for each year may not sum to 100% due to rounding.
 

percentage points (from 78 percent to 72 percent

as shown in Figure 2), as did their share of the

overall workforce. Hispanics have accounted for

most of the increase in the overall U.S. workforce

since 2000 (their share rose from 10 percent in

2000 to 14 percent in 2009), yet the Hispanic share

of the STEM workforce increased by only one per‐

centage point (from five percent to six percent).

Conversely, the non‐Hispanic Asian share of STEM

workers increased by four percentage points (from

10 percent to 14 percent), whereas their share of

the overall workforce rose by only one percentage

point (from 10 percent to 11 percent). Non‐

Hispanic Blacks did not see any change in their

share of STEM workers, while their share of the

overall workforce increased by one percentage

point (from 10 percent to 11 percent).

STEM Employment and Education

by Race and Hispanic Origin

The propensity for workers to have STEM jobs is

driven by three key decisions made along their ca‐

reer paths. First, Hispanics, non‐Hispanic Blacks

and American Indians or Alaska Natives (AIANs) are

much less likely to obtain a bachelor’s or higher

degree in comparison with non‐Hispanic Whites

and Asians. Second, Hispanics and non‐Hispanic

Whites and Blacks who obtain college degrees are

less likely than non‐Hispanic Asians to major in

STEM fields (although as we found in our earlier

STEM reports, many college‐educated STEM work‐

ers do not have STEM degrees). And third, STEM

majors among Hispanics and non‐Hispanic Blacks,

Whites, and members of all other groups are less

likely to obtain STEM jobs than non‐Hispanic

Asians.

The propensity to obtain a college degree (or

higher) varies considerably by race and Hispanic

origin. (See leftmost group of bars in Figure 3.)

Only about one‐fifth of non‐Hispanic Blacks (22 per‐

cent) and less than one‐sixth of Hispanics (14 per‐

cent) have bachelor’s degrees. More than half (54

percent) of Asians and more than one‐third (35 per‐

cent) of non‐Hispanic Whites, however, have at

least a bachelor’s degree. (Only 17 percent of

AIANs have bachelor’s degrees.)

The likelihood of having a STEM job is significantly

higher among college‐educated workers than those

without a college degree, regardless of race and

Hispanic origin. (See Figure 4.) One out of four non

‐Hispanic Asians with a bachelor’s degree or higher

has a STEM job, but only 3 percent of those without

such a degree have a STEM job. Ten percent of non

‐Hispanic Whites with a bachelor’s degree or higher

have STEM jobs – only two percentage points

U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration 3
             

               

         

           

                 

                

                      

               

                

         

               

           

                 

               

             

                

               

           

             

               

              

     

             

             

              

                   

                 

                              

                  

           

                           

                  

                                                

     

     

     

   

               

       

         

     

   

Figure 3: Factors Affecting Likelihood of Having STEM Job by Race and Hispanic Origin, 2009

White, non‐Hispanic Asian, non‐Hispanic Hispanic Black, non‐Hispanic All Other, non‐Hispanic

35%

22%

34%

54%

43%

49%

14%

21%

28%

22%

17%

29% 25% 22%

28%

Percent with College Degree Percent of College Graduates

(age 16+) with STEM Major (age 25+)

Source: ESA calculations from American Community Survey public‐use microdata.

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Percent of STEM Majors with
 

STEM Jobs (age 25+)
 

Note: Estimates are for employed persons.

higher than is the case for Hispanics and non‐

Hispanic Blacks and AIANs.

The propensity for college‐educated workers to

pick a STEM major varies across race and Hispanic

origin, though. (See middle group of bars in Figure

3.) Out of the 41.5 million workers with at least a

bachelor’s degree, 9.3 million (or 22 percent) have

a STEM degree. Among workers with a bachelor’s

degree or higher, Hispanics and non‐Hispanic

Whites and members of all other groups are simi‐

larly represented in STEM majors (ranging between

21 to 22 percent), while non‐Hispanic Blacks have a

lower likelihood (17 percent) of having a STEM de‐

gree. Non‐Hispanic Asians have the highest likeli‐

hood of having a STEM degree (43 percent).

Engineering, and physical and life sciences are the

most popular fields of study for college‐educated

workers with a STEM degree, together accounting

for 67‐to‐80 percent of that workforce. (See Figure

5.) Among STEM degree categories, nearly half of

all college‐educated non‐Hispanic Asians and His‐

panics with a STEM degree majored in engineering,

compared to 38 percent for non‐Hispanic Whites

and 32 percent for non‐Hispanic Blacks. The share

of STEM majors with a degree in physical or life sci‐

ences ranged between 30 and 41 percent of STEM

Figure 4. Share of Workers with STEM Jobs by Race, Hispanic Origin, and Education, 2009

3% 3% 1% 2% 2% 3%

10%

25%

8% 8% 8%

14%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Lessthan Bachelor's Degree

Bachelor's Degree or higher

Overall share across all

education levels: 5.3%

White, non‐ Asian, non‐ Hispanic Black, non‐ AIAN, non‐ Other, non‐

Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic* Hispanic

Source: ESA calculations from American Community Survey public‐use microdata.

Note: Estimates are for employed persons age 16 and over. *AIAN refers to persons who identify as American Indian or Alaskan Native alone, not Hispanic.

4 U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration
             

            

               

               

     

               

               

               

              

           

             

                 

               

           

           

               

         

               

             

                 

            

                           

                  

                             

                  

   

             

  

     

     

Figure 5: Degree Fields of Employed STEM Majors, by Race and Hispanic Origin, 2009

38% 47% 49%

32% 38%

41% 30% 31%

35%

38%

13% 18% 16%

25% 18%

8% 5% 4% 7% 7% 100%

Math 90%

80%

70% Computer

60%

50%

Physical and Life 40%

Sciences 30%

Engineering 20%

10%

0%

White, non‐ Asian, non‐ Hispanic Black, non‐ All other, non‐

Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic

Source: ESA calculations from American Community Survey public‐use microdata.

majors across race and Hispanic origin. Also note‐ demographic group had jobs in financial, health‐

worthy is that non‐Hispanic Blacks had a higher care, and education occupations. Whites with

propensity to major in computer science than did STEM degrees are somewhat more likely to be in

the other groups. non‐STEM management positions relative to other

groups. Looking at those with STEM degrees, fewer than

three out of ten Hispanics, non‐Hispanic Blacks and Data indicate that one of the most important fac‐

members of all other groups have STEM jobs (28‐ tors explaining the relatively low propensity of non‐

29 percent) compared with one‐third (34 percent) Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics to have STEM jobs is

of non‐Hispanic Whites and nearly half (49 per‐ their relatively low college graduation rates.

cent) of non‐Hispanic Asians (see rightmost group

of bars in Figure 3). However, about the same

shares of workers with STEM degrees in each

Figure 6. Foreign‐born Share of All and STEM Workers, by Race and Hispanic Origin, 2009

White, non‐ Asian, non‐ Hispanic Black, non‐ All other, non‐

Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic
 

4%

81%

54%

12% 12% 7%

87%

36%

16%

18%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

All workers

STEM workers

Overallshare for STEM

workers: 20.3%

Overallshare for all

workers: 16.0%

Source: ESA calculations from American Community Survey public‐use microdata.

U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration 5
             

                 

                   

                   

               

                 

             

             

             

           

               

           

                   

         

              

               

               

             

               

              

                 

       

               

               

       

   

           

         

     

                   

                   

                       

                     

                            

                            

   

Figure 7. Foreign‐born Share of STEM Workers, by Educational Attainment, 1994‐2010

STEM occupations, Beyond a bachelor's degree

STEM occupations, Bachelor's degree

Dotted lines are corresponding employment shares in non‐STEM occupations

STEM occupations, Less than a bachelor's degree

1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010
 

52%

48%

44%

40%

36%

32%

28%

24%

20%

16%

12%

8%

4%

0%

Source: ESA calculations using Current Population Survey public‐use microdata files for 1994 through 2010.

Note: Estimates are for private full‐time wage and salary workers age 25 and over.

Foreign‐born STEM workers

According to the 2009 ACS, there are about 1.5 mil‐

lion STEM workers in the U.S. who are foreign born

– about 20 percent of the STEM workforce, which is

slightly higher than the 16 percent share of foreign‐

born among all U.S. workers. (See Figure 6.) About

half of foreign‐born STEM workers are naturalized

citizens (53 percent) and half noncitizens (47 per‐

cent). The share of foreign‐born, however, varies

significantly by race and Hispanic origin. Non‐

Hispanic Whites, the largest group of workers —

representing almost three‐fourths of all STEM

workers as shown in Figure 2 — are mostly native

born (93 percent). Non‐Hispanic Asian STEM work‐

ers, in contrast, are almost all foreign‐born. Nearly

nine out of ten non‐Hispanic Asian STEM workers

(87 percent) were born outside of the United

States. This trend also applies to all non‐Hispanic

Asian workers, the vast majority of whom (81 per‐

cent) are foreign‐born. One out of six non‐Hispanic

Black STEM workers is foreign‐born.

Unlike the non‐Hispanic groups, foreign‐born work‐

ers represent a smaller share of Hispanic STEM

workers (36 percent) than of all Hispanic workers

Figure 8. All Foreign‐born Workers and STEM Foreign‐Born Workers, by Birthplace, 2009

55%

27%

11%

4% 4% 2%

13%

63%

16%

3%

Latin America Asia Europe Africa Other

All Foreign‐Born Workers

Foreign‐Born STEM Workers

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Source: ESA calculations from American Community Survey public‐use microdata.

Note: Estimates are for employed persons age 16 and over.

6 U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration
             

               

                 

           

               

           

         

             

               

               

            

             

               

               

               

           

      

           

               

             

             

             

                 

                 

                     

           

             

           

              

               

                 

                 

           

           

             

                 

                 

               

             

                 

           

             

                

               

               

                 

             

           

               

           

             

     

             

      

         

                  

                              

   

                                                          

         

(54 percent). This largely reflects the fact that

while Mexico accounts for more than 60 percent of

foreign‐born Hispanic workers, less than one per‐

cent of the foreign‐born from Mexico work in

STEM occupations. This low representation in

STEM employment is also evident among foreign‐

born Hispanic workers from most of Central Amer‐

ica as well as the Dominican Republic. However,

Hispanic workers from other countries tend to be

more broadly represented in STEM occupations. In

particular, Hispanics born in some South American

countries such as Venezuela (8.6 percent) and Chile

(8.0 percent), and those from Spain (8.3 percent)

are considerably more likely to work in STEM jobs

than all Hispanics (2.2 percent) or foreign‐born His‐

panics (1.4 percent).

The foreign‐born share of STEM workers with

graduate degrees (44 percent) is about double the

foreign‐born share of STEM workers for all educa‐

tion levels. Moreover, the foreign‐born share of

STEM workers with graduate degrees has nearly

doubled over the past 17 years, as has the foreign‐

born share of STEM workers with just a bachelor’s

degree (see Figure 7), which may in part be due to

increasing global competition in STEM. Among

STEM workers who do not have college degrees

(only 8 percent), foreign‐born workers are under‐

represented. Some of the increase in the foreign‐

born share of highly educated STEM workers may

be due to a combination of the relatively high qual‐

ity of U.S. colleges and universities – one of Amer‐

ica’s competitive advantages ‐ and rising incomes in

other countries that enable foreign students to pay

for a high‐quality U.S. STEM education. Quantifying

these effects, however, is beyond the scope of this

report.

More than half of all foreign‐born workers in the

United States were born in Latin America (55 per‐

cent), while only 27 percent of all foreign‐born

workers are from Asia. (See Figure 8.) However,

these numbers are nearly reversed among foreign‐

born STEM workers, almost two‐thirds (63 percent)

of whom come from Asia. One in four foreign‐born

STEM workers come from China, while 11 percent

come from India; no other country accounts for

more than 5 percent of foreign‐born STEM workers.

STEM Worker Earnings
 

by Race and Hispanic Origin
 

Non‐Hispanic White STEM workers on average earn

22 percent more than their non‐STEM counter‐

parts, based on regression analysis that controls for

other characteristics that may be related to earn‐

ings.7 The STEM earnings premium is larger for

other demographic groups  ‐ 31 percent for non‐

Hispanic Asians, 39 percent for non‐Hispanic Blacks,

31%

36%

39% 37%

22%

Figure 9. Regression‐adjusted Wage Premium from Having STEM Job, by
 

Race and Hispanic Origin, 2009
 

White, non‐ Asian, non‐ Hispanic Black, non‐ All other, non‐

Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic Hispanic
 

Source: ESA calculations from American Community Survey public‐use microdata.
 

Note: Estimates are for full‐time year‐round private wage and salary workers age 25 and over.
 

45%

40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration 7
             

                 

         

               

                 

               

             

             

             

             

               

         

           

   

                 

           

           

                 

                 

               

               

         

             

                 

             

        

               

               

               

             

             

           

                

               

             

           

           

                   

             

               

               

             

             

         

               

      

         

                   

           

                 

                

             

              

             

               

             

   

         

           

             

               

             

               

               

       

                  

               

             

             

           

               

               

               

       

and 36 percent for Hispanics. (See Figure 9.) This

indicates that non‐Hispanic White workers, repre‐

senting the majority (72 percent) of STEM workers

in the U.S., get a significantly smaller boost from

going into a STEM occupation than their otherwise

similar Hispanic or non‐Hispanic Asian and Black

counterparts.

The STEM earnings premium is 24 percent for na‐

tive‐born STEM workers and 35 percent for foreign‐

born STEM workers. The boost in earnings associ‐

ated with entering a STEM profession is about one‐

third larger among foreign‐born non‐citizens (41

percent) than foreign‐born naturalized citizens (30

percent).

A portion of the wage premium from having a

STEM job may be explained by occupational

choices that vary across or within demographic

groups that are not captured by the aggregate data

on major industries. Some of the wage premium

may also be due to other unidentified attributes

that are simply not quantifiable. As a result, the

regression‐adjusted estimates for STEM wage pre‐

miums may vary depending on the exact specifica‐

tion of the regression model, that is, how much

information we have on worker characteristics that

likely impact earnings.

Our earlier STEM report, “STEM: Good Jobs Now

and for the Future,” documented that in addition to

earning a wage premium, STEM workers are also

generally less likely to be unemployed than non‐

STEM workers, although the difference in the un‐

employment rate is much less among college‐

educated STEM and non‐STEM workers. We find a

similar pattern by race and Hispanic origin.

Conclusion

This report finds that non‐Hispanic Blacks and His‐

panics have been consistently underrepresented in

STEM jobs over the past decade. Non‐Hispanic

Black and Hispanic workers are half as likely as all

workers to have STEM jobs. In contrast, non‐

Hispanic Asian workers are nearly three times as

likely as all workers to have STEM jobs. The varia‐

tions observed across demographic groups may be

attributable to a variety of factors, including differ‐

ences among college graduation rates, propensities

to choose a STEM field of study and preferences

and other unobservable factors.

Foreign‐born persons are only slightly overrepre‐

sented in STEM jobs relative to all jobs in the econ‐

omy; foreign‐born workers represent 20 percent of

the STEM workforce, as compared to 16 percent of

the total U.S. workforce. However, they are greatly

overrepresented in STEM jobs among persons with

graduate degrees. This is most likely due to Amer‐

ica’s exemplary graduate schools that attract the

best students from around the world, many of

whom remain in the United States’ workforce, en‐

hancing America's competitiveness.

The aggregate statistics for these demographic

groups mask some interesting variations seen

within the groups. For example, Hispanics from dif‐

ferent parts of North and South America exhibit

quite different propensities to enter a STEM profes‐

sion.

Echoing the findings of our earlier STEM reports,

we find that STEM workers earn significantly more

than comparable workers in non‐STEM occupa‐

tions, regardless of race, Hispanic origin, or nativity.

A common thread throughout this report and also

touched upon in our earlier reports, is the impor‐

tance of education as a gateway to high‐quality

STEM jobs. Enabling and encouraging equitable

access to premium education is critical to ensuring

that America maintains a wide and diverse source

of STEM professionals that help to advance U.S.

innovation and global competitiveness.

8 U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration
             

                   

   

     

                 

           

     

   

               

           

     

       

       

   

         

     

   

       

         

     

               

         

                 

                 

           

       

               

           

           

       

             

           

       

           

             

           

   

               

           

Appendix Table 1. Detailed STEM occupations and Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)

SOC

Occupation Occupation SOC code Code

Computer and math occupations

Network systems and data communications

Computer scientists and systems analysts 15‐10XX 15‐1081

analysts

Computer programmers 15‐1021 Mathematicians 15‐2021

Computer software engineers 15‐1030 Operations research analysts 15‐2031

Computer support specialists 15‐1041 Statisticians 15‐2041

Miscellaneous mathematical science occupa‐ Database administrators 15‐1061 15‐2090

tions

Network and computer systems administrators 15‐1071

Engineering and surveying occupations

Surveyors, cartographers, and photogrammet‐ 17‐1020 Materials engineers 17‐2131

Aerospace engineers 17‐2011 Mechanical engineers 17‐2141

Mining and geological engineers, including 17‐2151

Agricultural engineers 17‐2021 mining safety engineers

Biomedical engineers 17‐2031 Nuclear engineers 17‐2161

Chemical engineers 17‐2041 Petroleum engineers 17‐2171

Civil engineers 17‐2051 Engineers, all other 17‐2199

Computer hardware engineers 17‐2061 Drafters 17‐3010

Electrical and electronic engineers 17‐2070 Engineering technicians, except drafters 17‐3020

Environmental engineers 17‐2081 Surveying and mapping technicians 17‐3031

Industrial engineers, including health and safety 17‐2110 Sales engineers 41‐9031

Marine engineers and naval architects 17‐2121

Physical and life sciences occupations

Agricultural and food scientists 19‐1010 Physical scientists, all other 19‐2099

Biological scientists 19‐1020 Agricultural and food science technicians 19‐4011

Conservation scientists and foresters 19‐1030 Biological technicians 19‐4021

Medical scientists 19‐1040 Chemical technicians 19‐4031

Astronomers and physicists 19‐2010 Geological and petroleum technicians 19‐4041

Atmospheric and space scientists 19‐2021 Nuclear technicians 19‐4051

Other life, physical, and social science techni‐

Chemists and materials scientists 19‐2030 cians 19‐40XX

Environmental scientists and geoscientists 19‐2040

STEM managerial occupations

Computer and information systems managers 11‐3021 Natural sciences managers 11‐9121

Engineering managers 11‐9041

U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration 9
             

               

   

             

             

           

             

       

         

   

     

             

           

               

               

       

     

   

     

       

         

             

   

           

   

       

                 

    

Appendix          Table 2. Detailed STEM undergraduate    majors

 Computer and information

systems

 Computer programming and

data processing

 Mathematics

 Applied mathematics

General engineering

 Aerospace engineering

 Biological engineering

 Architectural engineering

 Biomedical engineering

 Chemical engineering

 Civil engineering

 Computer engineering

 Electrical engineering

 Engineering mechanics physics

and science

 Animal sciences

 Food science

 Plant science and agronomy

 Soil science
 

Environmental science
 

Biology
 

 Biochemical sciences

 Botany

 Molecular biology

 Ecology

Computer majors

 Computer science

 Information sciences

Math majors

 Statistics and decision science

Engineering majors

 Environmental engineering

 Geological and geophysical

engineering

 Industrial and manufacturing

engineering

 Materials engineering and

materials science

 Mechanical engineering

 Metallurgical engineering

 Mining and mineral

engineering

 Naval architecture and marine

engineering

 Nuclear engineering

Physical and life sciences majors

 Genetics

 Microbiology

 Pharmacology

 Physiology

 Zoology

 Miscellaneous biology

 Nutrition sciences

 Neuroscience

 Cognitive science and

biopsychology

 Computer administration

management and security

 Computer networking and

telecommunications

 Mathematics and computer

science

 Petroleum engineering

 Miscellaneous engineering

 Engineering technologies

 Engineering and industrial

management

 Electrical engineering technology

 Industrial production

technologies

 Mechanical engineering related

technologies

 Miscellaneous engineering

technologies

 Military technologies

 Physical sciences

 Astronomy and astrophysics

 Atmospheric sciences and

meteorology

 Chemistry

 Geology and earth science

 Geosciences

 Oceanography

 Physics

 Nuclear, industrial radiology, and

biological technologies

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Endnotes

1

These occupations are computer and information

systems managers, engineering managers, and natu‐

ral sciences managers.

2

Although our principal data source, the 2009 Ameri‐

can Community Survey (ACS), collects detailed infor‐

mation on workers’ occupations, they do not break

out educators by their specific field. As a result, it is

not possible to distinguish math and science profes‐

sors from other professors. Data from the Bureau of

Labor Statistics’ Occupational Employment Statistics

program show that there are roughly 200,000 post‐

secondary teachers in STEM fields, and so their exclu‐

sion is unlikely to materially affect our results.

3

The National Science Foundation does count social

scientists among “science and engineering jobs” in

keeping with the agency’s mission supporting “all

fields of fundamental science and engineering, except

for medical sciences.” This report, however, follows a

different approach.

4

Note that persons in science occupations include not

just scientists but also science technicians. Likewise,

engineering and surveying occupations include engi‐

neering technicians and drafters, and computer occu‐

pations range from computer support specialists to

computer software engineers.

5

The estimates reported in this paragraph are based

on 2009 data from the American Community Survey

(ACS). The estimates are very similar to those cited in

STEM: Good Jobs Now and For the Future (http://

www.esa.doc.gov/Reports/stem‐good‐jobs‐now‐and‐

future), p. 2, which were based on 2010 data from

the Current Population Survey. The estimates are

very similar but not exactly the same because they

were drawn from different samples of workers in two

different years.

6

In the few cases where both the primary and secon‐

dary undergraduate majors were in STEM fields, we

used the primary major as the STEM major.

7

Our earnings regression analyses control for many

earnings‐related characteristics, including age, gen‐

der, marital status, nativity and citizenship, educa‐

tional attainment, region, major industry, and STEM

occupation.

The authors are economists in the Office of the Chief

Economist of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s

Economics and Statistics Administration.

Technical inquiries:
 

Office of the Chief Economist
 

(202) 482‐3523
 

Media inquiries:
 

Office of Communications
 

(202) 482‐3331
 

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

1401 Constitution Ave., NW

Washington, DC 20230

www.esa.doc.gov

U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration 11