Not all STEM jobs require a four-year degree

POSTED ON Aug 11, 2022

The paths to well-paying, challenging, and satisfying careers are many. While college is often touted as the best route to secure a job and a future in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), it’s not the only way.

Many STEM jobs don’t require four years of college; some don’t require any college education. According to the Brookings Institution report The Hidden STEM Economy, 20 percent of all jobs require a high level of knowledge in any one STEM field.

“STEM jobs have doubled as a share of all jobs since the Industrial Revolution, from less than 10 percent in 1850 to 20 percent in 2010,” according to the report. “Half of all STEM jobs are available to workers without a four-year college degree, and these jobs pay $53,000 on average—a wage 10 percent higher than jobs with similar educational requirements.”

According to a National Science Board (NSB) presentation on blue-collar STEM, the unemployment rate for blue-collar STEM workers is “relatively low.”

In a 2019 report titled The Skilled Technical Workforce: Crafting America’s Science and Engineering Enterprise, the NSB noted that the skilled technical workforce (STW), the millions of people with STEM skills and knowledge who do not have a bachelor’s degree, are a “crucial but underappreciated part of the science and engineering enterprise.”

Among recommendations in the 57-page NSB report:

• The NSB and NSF, and other science and engineering leaders, should communicate the importance of skilled technical workers.

• Prioritize nationally representative data collection on skilled technical workers’ education, skills, and workforce characteristics. NSF should promote partnerships between governmental and nongovernmental (industry, academia) stakeholders in the STW to share data and develop tools for public use and workforce planning.

• NSF should conduct a complete portfolio analysis of its STW investments and then use some of that information to publicize and inform stakeholders about the breadth of NSF’s contributions to skilled technical workers, build awareness of funding opportunities, and maximize and leverage the impact of these investments.

• In strengthening educational pathways for the STW, policymakers and educational institutions should recognize that K-12 school systems, two-year colleges, four-year colleges and universities, and other post-secondary education and workforce development programs are integral, synergistic parts of a whole.

“These institutions should work as partners together with business and industry to grow the STEM-capable U.S. workforce…,” states the report. “Policymakers can encourage the creation of such partnerships by developing federal programs that require partnership participation from stakeholders from multiple sectors.”

Pay ranges vary as widely as the types of STEM jobs that do not require a college education. They include technicians, installers, and specialists, to name a few. A listing of such jobs from Stemtropolis.com include:

• Software developers, the median pay in 2019 of $107,510 annually, 22 percent projected job growth through 2029

• Computer support specialist, the median pay in 2019 of $51,470 annually, 8 percent projected job growth through 2029

• Pharmacy technician, the median pay in 2019 of $33,950 annually, 4 percent projected job growth through 2029

• Electrical and electronics installer/repairers, the median pay in 2019 of $59,080 annually, -1 percent projected job growth through 2029

• Machinists, whose jobs combine engineering and technology, often set up and operate complex machines that utilize computer software programs to create precision parts. Median pay in 2019 of $45,750 annually, 3 percent projected job growth through 2029.

StairwaytoStem.org, a website that provides resources for students on the autism spectrum transitioning from high school to college, particularly in STEM fields determined that the following are projected to be among the fastest-growing STEM jobs that require less than a bachelor’s degree:

• Geological and Petroleum Technicians ($55,610)

• Environmental Engineering Technicians ($48,500)

• Agricultural and Food Science Technicians ($36,480)

• Aerospace Engineering and Operations ($66,180)