Have you ever heard of jobs such as data scientist, civil engineers, or marine biologists? These are all the careers that belong to STEM education.
STEAM learning is such a hot topic right now, and STEM/STEAM-related careers are in high demand. Many international, bilingual, and even local schools have incorporated STEAM into their teaching curriculum. As it turns out, science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education is uniquely suited to prepare students for success.
A comparable acronym is STEAM which takes the same meaning from the STEM group and adds in an “A,” which refers to Arts. As the component of Arts emphasizes the importance of creating an engaging and integrated educational framework, we shall dedicate a separate section for career paths related to Arts later. Meanwhile, this blog will closely look at the degree choices for students learning STEM courses.
Top STEM courses and Degree choices (Part 1) – “S”cience and “T”echnology
1. What Is STEAM?
STEAM is the abbreviation for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Math. It’s an integrated approach to teaching and learning that integrates science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math as pathways to guide student inquiry, discussions, and critical thinking.
STEAM education, currently introduced to individuals during their college years, is set up to teach students how to think critically, enabling them to problem solve effectively and use creative thinking to drive forward. Complete projects using new methods, tried and tested solutions and using their initiatives.
Education experts say STEAM education helps students develop the capacity to:
- Take thoughtful risks
- Engage in meaningful learning activities
- Become resilient problem solvers
- Embrace and appreciate the collaboration
- Work through the creative process
We love STEAM because, unlike traditional education, the STEAM approach empowers students to be curious learners who seek creative solutions to real-world problems. These are the hard skills they need to succeed in college, their careers, and wherever else life takes them.
For example, students in our Virtual Summer Camp get to learn about life in outer space and demonstrate what they would need to live on another planet if the Earth ran out of rooms and resources. Throughout the course, students consider life essentials, housing, and safety through the lens of collaboration and compassion, all while being empowered to lead their learning.
2. What is the career prospect for STEM students?
The employment rate of many STEM occupations, including epidemiologists, medical scientists, and biological technicians, has been expected to increase in the United States since the coronavirus pandemic started, as mentioned in the most recent study by the Bureau of Labour Statistics. According to the Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey, STEM professionals who studied in a STEM discipline in college earned an average of $101,100 compared to $87,600 for those who did not. The statistics also show that STEM graduates had more opportunities to transfer to non-STEM fields, but not the other way round. Choosing to pursue a STEM degree will not only offer a great career prospect but also nurture in-demand skills for graduates to tackle real-world problems using their technical expertise, innovation, and creativity.
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3. Top degree choices in STEM
Science
Biology, chemistry, medical science, physics, and Psychology are just a few of the numerous fields of science. Science-focused courses enable you to use critical thinking, research abilities, and analytical skills to reach research-based findings and address global issues.
BSc Physics/ Chemistry/ Biology
The BSc Physics course will allow you to learn about the rules of the universe as well as the science underlying important technological innovations. You may conduct investigations for dark matter, methods to enhance solar energy systems, and how the quantum theory of light can aid in the development of computers. With a BSc Chemistry degree, you can take part in a wide range of laboratory-based activities, learn about medicinal and biological chemistry, as well as provide solutions for healthcare, the environment, and sustainable energy. A degree in Biology will cover studies of all living and non-living forms of life, from microorganisms plants to animals and human beings. Some fundamental topics of Biology courses include cell theory, genetics, ecology, and evolution.
Potential career prospects:
- Research Scientist: You will develop and execute experiments to obtain physical evidence of natural events. The data is analyzed to create practical applications for new materials and technology development.
- Synthetic Chemist: The synthetic chemist experiments with and produces chemical compounds to generate novel materials for applications. They operate in labs and may work for various industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, and food and beverage.
- Agricultural or Food Science Technician: You will assist scientists in the tracking of data, the maintenance of laboratory equipment, the supervision of food production, and the analysis of the quality of food, crops, and soil.
Medicine
Degrees in Medicine are often the most in-demand, especially if you intend to become healthcare professionals, doctors, and medical practitioners. You can head to several specializations after your foundation years in medical schools, such as General practice, Surgery, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Neurology, and more. It will take you two years for a foundation course in the UK and between three to eight years for a certain specialty. In the United States, medical school lasts four years and is followed by a three-year residency and sometimes a fellowship for another three-year tenure.
Potential career prospects:
- Neurosurgeon: This career is always on the list of the highest-paying jobs. As a neurosurgeon, you will specialize in the examination, diagnosis, and surgical treatment of neurological diseases.
- Plastic Surgeon: As a plastic surgeon, you often perform reconstructive surgery on patients who have had critical injuries to help them recover their aesthetic look and functionality. You can operate in hospitals or private clinics.
- Psychiatrist: Psychiatrists are experts in assessing, managing, prescribing medicine, and treating patients with mental illnesses.
- Dentist: Dentists inspect and examine patients’ teeth and gums to provide advice and guidance on oral health.
Forensic Science
The processing and analysis of physical evidence during criminal investigations emphasizes a forensic science degree. You will get to learn the foundation on which forensic science is built, such as biochemistry, drug chemistry, and ballistics. You will also study criminal laws and work on laboratory projects that apply analytical chemistry.
Potential career prospects:
- Crime Scene Investigator: As a crime scene investigator, you’ll be responsible for guarding and protecting crime scenes, as well as gathering evidence from them, post-mortems, and other events like fires and strange deaths.
- Forensic Scientist: As a forensic scientist, you’ll produce scientific evidence to help the prosecution or defense in criminal and civil investigations in courts of law.
- Toxicologist: You will design and conduct laboratory and field studies to evaluate the potential dangers and detrimental impacts of these drugs, considering future technology such as genomics, digital tools, and gene-editing.
Astronomy and Space Science
Do you wish to work for NASA? A degree in Astronomy is full of exciting opportunities to study the universe, from the solar system to stars and galaxies to cosmology. You can work on images from giant telescopes and analyze data with various laboratory projects. Most graduates study Astronomy to become an astronomer. This path usually requires you to reach a Ph.D. level and be involved in a research scientist career.
Technology
The world of technology is fast-moving and innovative, making it an exciting industry to be a part of. From scientific research to health development, transport, banking, communications, you can see the presence of technology everywhere. The technology element in STEM usually involves computer-related majors. If you think you will need a technical education, it is worth looking at the following degree choices and career paths you can take.
Computer Science
With a BSc in Computer Science, you will learn in-demand computer skills, develop your creativity to tackle complicated issues, create new applications for business, education, banking and more. You can often choose to specialize in one of these areas, including machine learning and AI, web and mobile development, the Internet of Things, games development, virtual reality, and user experience. Also, the programming languages such as Python, C++, JavaScript are parts of your course.
The degree also provides you with a great career path, and you can work almost everywhere with your skills. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Computer Science employment is expected to grow by 13% by 2026. A similar trend can be seen in the EU, where the number of ICT (Information and Communications Technology) professionals increased by 36.1% between 2007 and 2017.
Potential career prospects:
- Software developer: This role involves writing codes and programs for operating systems. You will build, manage, audit, and enhance systems to suit specific demands with the help of a systems analyst or architect, and you will conduct frequent testing to detect and fix system problems. You can choose to work for a specific field among Android, IOS and Windows phone platforms.
- Cloud application engineer: As a cloud application engineer, you will plan, manage, design and monitor cloud systems. Smaller firms are more likely to hire a generalist. Still, bigger companies are more likely to split the function into many roles for more specialized knowledge such as cloud architecture, cloud network, and cloud security.
Cyber Security
As the Internet becomes widely accessible around the globe, the demand for cyber security is more critical. According to Statista, the Cyber Security industry worldwide is predicted to reach 345.3 billion U.S. dollars by 2026. Students who get a Cyber Security degree will understand computer networks, risk management tactics, and how to defend against hackers and their tools. The degree will prepare you for employment in various industries such as transportation, financial services, education, and media.
Potential career prospects:
- Cyber Security Analyst: Your responsibility is to protect an organization’s IT infrastructure (including networks, hardware, and software) against various threats. You will constantly monitor the network systems, discover security risks, and identify system alerts.
- Security Architect: Apart from building and maintaining the security system for an organization, you will establish and execute security procedures for employees and anyone who has access to computers, networks, and data systems in your company.
- IT Security Consultant: A consultant will meet with customers to advise them on the most efficient and cost-effective ways to defend their businesses’ cyber security goals.
Data Analytics
Anyone interested in making a profession out of leveraging the power of data should start with Data Analytics. With a Data Analytics degree, you will be able to evaluate, extract, and “clean” data from various sources before applying it to solve specific challenges. Taking a Data Analytics course, you can learn about computational systems, principles of computer programming, data modeling, and data visualization. Businesses and organizations may benefit from this essential skill set by making better choices and being more efficient. The World Economic Forum also released its estimates for the future workforce in 2018 for 2022, showing that 85% of enterprises would have used big data and analytics technology by 2022.
Potential career prospects:
- Data Analyst: You will identify trends, project changes, extract data, create data structures, and produce analytical reports to help your business make important decisions.
- Business Intelligence Analyst: You will be more responsible for interpreting large databases through data visualization, which helps build business processes and strategies
About E2xTwinkl series
E2 and Twinkl collaborated on articles in the E2xTwinkl series to give families a range of valuable information, activities, and ideas for following your children on their learning journey. The articles cover a variety of themes, like how kids learn STEAM and English efficiently at home. We believe you will start coming up with many wonderful ideas to help your children study well every day.
Twinkl Educational Publishing is a British online educational publishing house producing teaching and educational materials. It is trusted by 11 million teachers, parents, and 12,000 schools in more than 200 countries worldwide. Twinkl has a collection of over 750,000 documents created by a team of international experts.
