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Physics Bachelor’s
One Year After Degree
Data from the degree recipient follow-up survey for the classes of 2011 and 2012 combined
Casey Langer Tesfaye & Patrick Mulvey
One Physics Ellipse • College Park, MD 20740 • 301.209.3070 • stats@aip.org September 2014
R E P O R T S O N P H Y S I C S
B A C H E L O R ’ S
Physics Bachelor’s, One Year Later (September 2014)
Physics Bachelor’s, Initial Employment (forthcoming)
THE 2011 AND 2012 FOLLOW-UP SURVEYS OF
PHYSICS BACHELOR’S
Physics bachelor’s are contacted in the winter following the academic year in which they receive their degree. They are asked to share their employment or graduate school experiences. These reports describe our findings.
Status of Physics Bachelor’s One Year After Degree, Classes of 2011 & 2012 Combined
36% 22% 38% 4% Physics & Astronomy Other Fields Employment Graduate Study Unemployment (N=4,307) http://www.aip.org/statistics
Figure 1
Once they receive a bachelor’s degree in physics, new graduates typically follow one of two paths: enroll in graduate school or enter the employment market. In this publication we will explore the post-degree paths of the physics bachelor’s from the classes of 2011 and 2012. Within these classes, nearly sixty percent of graduates chose to enroll in a graduate program, and about forty percent entered the employment market.
September 2014 AIP Statistical Research Center Status of Physics Bachelor’s by Type of Department Attended,
One Year After Degree, Classes of 2011 & 2012 Combined
0 20 40 60 80 100 26 48 43 24 22 20 50 30 37
Physics & Astronomy Other Fields Employed or Seeking
PhD-granting Master's-granting Bachelor's-granting Graduate Study (N=2,051) (N=277) (N=1,974 Percent Highest Degree Offered by Department http://www.aip.org/statistics
Enrollment in physics bachelor’s programs has continued to increase dramatically over the last decade, with each year representing a record high for the number of bachelor’s degrees conferred. For more about enrollment and degree trends for physics bachelor’s, see our Enrollments and Degrees report series at: www.aip.org/statistics/ undergraduate.
Physics bachelor’s who earned their degrees from a department that also has a graduate-level program were more likely to immediately pursue graduate studies in physics than bachelor’s who earned their degrees from a department that only offered a bachelor’s degree. It is unclear whether these differences were a product of the undergraduate experiences of the students or if students intending to pursue graduate school were more likely to enroll at a department that offered an advanced physics degree. There was little difference between the post-degree paths followed by male and female graduates.
Figure 2
Physics bachelor’s receiving their degrees from departments that also offered graduate degrees in physics were more likely to pursue graduate study in physics than degree recipients from bachelor’s-only departments.
AIP Statistical Research Center September 2014
focus on
Physics Bachelor’s One Year Later
Page 3
Status of Physics Bachelor’s One Year After Degree, Classes 1995 through 2012 1995 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 10 20 30 40 50 60 Employment Physics or Astronomy
Graduate Study in Other Fields
Unemployment
Degree Class Percent
Graduate Study
http://www.aip.org/statistics
Although the distribution of initial post-degree paths chosen by physics bachelor’s has changed little in recent years, there has been a shift in outcomes over the longer term. Beginning in 2002 the distribution of outcomes shifted dramatically. The proportion of new bachelor’s choosing to enroll in a physics graduate program rose, and has remained steady at this higher level. The proportion of students who found employment in the year after their degree dipped dramatically, and it has remained steady at this new lower level.
Figure 3
The distribution of post-degree paths has changed little since the dramatic shifts around the turn of the
September 2014 AIP Statistical Research Center
Field of Graduate Study for Physics Bachelor’s One Year After Degree, Classes of 2011 & 2012 Combined
Mathematics Medicine Education Physical Sciences Computer Science Social Sciences Law Business Humanities Other Engineering 18% Other 21% Physics or Astronomy 61% (N=2,472) http://www.aip.org/statistics
Most of the physics bachelor’s who chose to continue their education in the year following their degree enrolled in physics or astronomy, or engineering graduate programs.
Figure 4
The initial employment of physics bachelor’s from the classes of 2011 and 2012 will be discussed in greater depth in the next report in this focus on series, focus on Physics Bachelor’s, Initial Employment.
A substantial proportion (58%) of the physics bachelor’s from the combined classes of 2011 and 2012 chose to enroll in graduate programs in the year following their degree. The majority (61%) of these students enrolled in physics or astronomy programs, and another 18% of them enrolled in engineering programs. The remaining students were spread across a variety of fields, working toward a variety of graduate and professional degrees. Eighty-three percent of the physics bachelor’s who enrolled in physics or astronomy graduate programs aspire to obtain a PhD in the field, which is relatively high when compared to about half of the bachelor’s who enrolled in engineering or other fields.
AIP Statistical Research Center September 2014
focus on
Physics Bachelor’s One Year Later
Page 5
Primary Types of Financial Support for Physics Bachelor's One Year After Degree, Classes of 2011 & 2012 Combined
Graduate Study in Physics or Astronomy
Graduate Study in Engineering
Graduate Study in Other Fields*
0 20 40 60 80 100 37 53 14 16 26 51 20 20 31 41 9 19 15 26 15 42 18 28 28 1 40 1 47 2 Teaching Assistant Research Assistant
Fellowships & Scholarships Self-Funded (N=216) (N=727) (N=156) (N=101) (N=149) (N=106) De gre e P rogr am E nro lle d Master's PhD Master's PhD Master's PhD
*Does not include professional degree fields such as law and medicine.
Percent
http://www.aip.org/statistics
Virtually all physics bachelor’s enrolled in a PhD program are
financially supported, regardless of field.
Figure 5
Although the types of support they receive varies by graduate subfield, nearly all of the physics bachelor’s who enrolled in a PhD program received financial support. This is not the case for students enrolled in master’s programs and professional degree programs, who had a higher proportion of students that were self-funded.
September 2014 AIP Statistical Research Center
+
Each fall, the Statistical Research Center conducts the “Survey of Enrollments and Degrees” which asks physics and astronomy departments to provide information concerning the number of students they have enrolled and counts of recent degree recipients. In connection with this survey, we ask for the names and contact information for their recent degree recipients. This information is used to conduct the follow-up survey in the winter following the academic year in which they received their degrees.
Recent degree recipients can be very difficult to reach because they tend to move after graduating. Often, the department does not have accurate contact information for their alumni. To assist us in determining outcome information and to help obtain updated contact information, we contact the advisors of non-responding graduates.
The physics classes of 2011 and 2012 consisted of 6,296 and 6,776 bachelor’s respectively. The follow-up surveys for the classes of 2011 and 2012 were conducted using a web-based form. Up to three e-mail invitations were sent to degree recipients. We received post-degree information for about 35% of these degree recipients, with 69% of the information coming directly from the student and 31% of the information coming from the student’s advisor. Four percent of the respondents were pursuing employment or graduate study outside the U.S. and were not included in the analysis.
On the figures in this report the notation “N” represents the number of individuals about whom we received data.
We thank the many physics and astronomy departments, degree recipients, and faculty advisors who made this publication possible.
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