Professionalization or Advancement? Roles of STEM Master's Degrees in Career Outcomes

• In Event: 44.084 - Roundtable Session 18
  In Roundtable Session: 44.084-15 - Student Outcomes and Higher Education Productivity

Abstract

The paper examines relationships between attainments of STEM master’s degrees and career outcomes, defined for the purpose of this study as relatedness of job sectors and highest education, as well as primary work activities, by using National Science Foundation’s 2013 National Survey of College Graduates. The preliminary findings suggest that STEM master’s degrees are related to increased professionalization/specialization in one’s career outcomes; however, their impacts in opening pathways to increased responsibilities (e.g., managerial roles) vary by fields of study. These findings have implications in how private returns on advanced education, such as earnings premium on graduate degrees are assumed and discussed.

Author

• Hironao Okahana, Council of Graduate Schools