Careers for math graduates have improved even since the very high levels of 2010. In 2010, six of the top ten jobs were suitable for math majors, but in 2011 all five of the top five careers are math-based. For those about to start college the signs are very clear - that a math major gives access to the overall best jobs, and the trend is unlikely to change any time soon.
Careercast Top Ten Jobs of 2011
Careercast use several criteria to judge a "good" job. The criteria are Salary, Work Environment, Stress, Physical Demands, and Hiring Outlook. The scoring system looks at each of the criteria, and then compares how each job type ranks for it. For example, the top score for salary is the medical profession, so it scores a rank of 1. Software engineer (which was rated by careercast as the best overall job) ranks 15th for stress. The ranks for each career are added, and the total then represents how good the career is overall. The lower the score, the better the job.
Top Ten Jobs of 2011
Note that the salary figures shown here are subject to a wide range of values for each career. Actual salary depends on employer, degree type, college attended, experience level, and many other factors.The top ten jobs were, according to the criteria used by careercast.com:
- Software Engineer: designs, writes, and maintains software. Typical Income score - $87,000
- Mathematician: uses mathematical knowledge to teach or solve problems. Typical Income score - $94,000
- Actuary: calculates the probabilities of accidents, injury, crime, and disasters. Typical Income score - $87,000
- Statistician: analyzes data and interprets results. Typical Income score - $73,000
- Computer System Analyst: Plans and develops computer systems. Typical income score - $77,000
- Meteorologist: studies patterns and trends in weather. Typical Income score - $85,000
- Biologist: studies plants, animals, and their environment. Typical Income score - $74,000
- Historian: Records and interprets historical information. Typical Income score - $63,000
- Audiologist: Studies and analyzes hearing abilities and impairments. Typical Income score - $63,000
- Dental Hygienist: Assists dentist in various aspects of practice. Typical Income score - $67,000
Using this list, an ideal combination for college degree subjects is mathematics with computing. This is a commonly offered subject at many online and attended colleges.
Math Degree Relevance to Top Jobs
Although a math-only college degree may not directly give entrance to a career in software engineering, the skill sets and logical thinking processes used in math and software development are very similar. In fact, some software is more easily tackled using math fields like binary numbers, or group theory.
The second, third, and fourth-best careers from the list are very obviously mathematics and statistics-based, and a math major is highly applicable to these careers.
The fifth-highest scoring career, computer analyst, may also be accessed by those holding a college math degree, but especially those who take mathematics with computing.
Top Jobs 2011 - Summary
Looking at careers in their entirety, and not just salary scales, the best scoring jobs are available to those holding a college mathematics degree, especially those who take math with computing. There is a large number of such courses available at universities all over the world.
Top Jobs 2011 - References
The website careercast.com publishes data on various jobs, from the best to the worst, with details about salaries, stress levels, hiring outlook etc. Their "Best Jobs" survey for 2011 was used as the basis for this article.
"Math Career Options - Professional Actuary" describes how to become an actuary. Online Masters Degrees in Mathematics are available at Illinois and Concordia in the U.S.A., and at the Open University in Europe.
Martin Bell - Martin holds a B.Sc. degree in chemical engineering, and an M.Sc. degree in electronics and computing. He has spent more than 25 years ...
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