Ontario Society of Professional Engineers did a study on engineering labour maker in Ontario 5 years ago. Their findings show that this is not the reason behind the majority of people with engineering degrees doing non-engineering work. I don't know how the results compare to those in the US or UK, but it certainly is an eye-opening data point. Some highlights:
- According to the 2011 NHS, only 29.7 per cent (67,045 out of 225,490) of employed individuals in Ontario with bachelor’s degrees or higher in engineering were working as engineers or engineering managers. A further 37 per cent (83,365 out of 225,490) worked in professional positions that normally require a university degree. In other words, only just over 65 per cent of employed Ontarians with engineering degrees were gainfully employed in professions that normally require or benefit from having a university degree.
- Those who were not working as engineers and were working in positions that don’t necessarily require a degree made up fully 33.3 per cent (75,090 out of 225,490) of the total.
So, as an engineering graduate, you are more likely to work in a job that does not require a degree, than in a job that requires an engineering degree.
All of those are among the professions which require a degree. The 1/3 who end up in professions that does not require any degree are not those who have gone into management or finance.
I assumed it was professions that have a licensing requirement where you must have a specific degree (like having an MD to practice medicine) vs some areas of finances where you don't need a particular diploma to pass the required SEC exams or certifications.
I have not read the full methodology. But if I were to make an educated guess, I would say they used NOC (National Occupation Code) for determining what does or does not require a degree. NOC divides all occupations into 4 skill levels, from A (occupations that usually require university education) to D (occupations that usually do not require even a secondary school diploma). Most probably, they used the same framework and tallied the number of people in engineering, other A level occupations, and everyone else. Finance and consulting are definitely A level.
Yes. I was responding to the parent, which talked about STEM in general. This report is mostly about the E, although it mentions the T and M as well, for example in Figure 4 on page 10.
- According to the 2011 NHS, only 29.7 per cent (67,045 out of 225,490) of employed individuals in Ontario with bachelor’s degrees or higher in engineering were working as engineers or engineering managers. A further 37 per cent (83,365 out of 225,490) worked in professional positions that normally require a university degree. In other words, only just over 65 per cent of employed Ontarians with engineering degrees were gainfully employed in professions that normally require or benefit from having a university degree.
- Those who were not working as engineers and were working in positions that don’t necessarily require a degree made up fully 33.3 per cent (75,090 out of 225,490) of the total.
So, as an engineering graduate, you are more likely to work in a job that does not require a degree, than in a job that requires an engineering degree.
https://www.ospe.on.ca/public/documents/advocacy/2015-crisis...