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Layla, a Senior at the University of Minnesota graduating in General Agriculture, wanting to explore occupations and graduate school outcomes for Minnesota degree holders by using the Bachelor Degree and Career Destination (BDCD) Data Tool.
Finding an occupation after graduating from a four year university can be very difficult for many seniors, getting ready to explore the real world. In many situations seniors wait till the last month before graduation to start looking for possible occupations in their fields. This was similar to Layla’s story, a senior at the University of Minnesota majoring in General Agriculture. Layla is originally from Texas but wants to stay in Minnesota for work. She realizes that she needs to start looking for an occupation due to school ending in May. She also wants to apply for graduate school but does not know if individuals that study Agriculture are more likely to go on in receiving a higher degree. To start her discovery process, Layla goes to her student advisor to ask for advice on where she should start looking for possible occupation in her field of study in the state of Minnesota. Her advisor directs her to the BDCD tool which is found on DEED’s website under the data tool tab.
After Layla discovers the tool, she than looks for her field of study, Agriculture. She first select her overall field in the general path tab which gives her a snapshot of which occupations are most popular in Agriculture. The tab shows that occupations for most individuals in Minnesota in Agriculture are 28.9% Management, 15.0% Sales and Related, 11.5% Business and Financial and 7.7% Life, Physical and Social Science. The tab also shows her that Agriculture fields of degree holders only make up 1.7% of Minnesota graduated bachelor degree holders, which is not a very huge percentage. The small percentage didn’t discourage her she loved her University and wanted to continue her studies, so she continued her search on the tool in looks for occupation she could thrive in.
Next she observed the data tools search by degree tab. From this tab Layla searched Agriculture and it gave her an in-depth look into certain sub degree fields and career paths. The tab also provided data on the labor force, median income and highest degrees obtain within each field of degree. Layla wanted to go more in-depth with her specific major of choice General Agriculture. She found that most of the Agriculture degree holders in Minnesota were 25% Animal Science, 24.3% Agriculture Production and Management, 17.4% Plant Science and finally her degree General Agriculture with 10.3%. The tab allows her to click on her given major General Agriculture, which allows her to see the most populated to least populated occupations that degree holders in Minnesota go into.
She further learns that General Agriculture bachelor degree holders are most likely to go into, 17.7% Sales Representatives, 16.0% Writers and Authors, 10.5% Miscellaneous Media and Communication, 9.2% Industrial Production Managers, 8.9% Accountants and Auditors, 7.9% Biological Technicians, 5.3% Market Research Analysts, etc. She also discovered that 87% of students are in the labor force and 13% of holders are not in the labor force. Layla then sees that some degree holders do go on to get higher degrees in Minnesota, 2% Professional Degree, 16% Master’s Degree and 5% Doctorate Degree. Also sees that the median income for people who graduated in her field is $35,000 per year for 2017 for all ages.
She then notices that there is an age tab that gives you specific details, for people in Minnesota graduating within General Agriculture. She selects the age group that she is closest to which is the 25-34 group. She notices the change in occupations becomes more condense with only three occupations, 38.8% Industrial Production Managers, 36.6% Biological Technicians and 24.5% Market Research Analysts and Specialist. The median income for age 25-34 changes to $50,000 in 2017 which is a $15,000 increase for the age group in comparison to all ages. General Agriculture majors in Layla’s field of degree from the ages 25-34 were also 99% employed.
Layla is happy to find that the tool answered her questions but she wants to look into specific occupations in her fields and who employees then in the State of Minnesota. She notices that the tool under the Degree tab directs her to the Occupations in Demand tool. From this tool she can she find out more specific information concerning a specific job title. Layla is overwhelmed with all of the information she is given and is determined to use the tool to help lead her in the right direction to finding an outstanding occupation in her degree field.
High school senior Shannon and her Investigation of a “Business Major” using the Bachelor’s Degree and Career Destination (BDCD) Data Tool
A high school senior Shannon is exploring college majors. She needs information on outcomes of various college majors. She is basing her choices on her interests but also on the prospective outcomes of majoring in a specific discipline. She has heard from various sources that a Business major is one of the most lucrative. Shannon uses the BDCD to get directions and foundational understanding of a Business major outcomes so she can educate herself and explore further armed with some research.
The BDCD gives her the following information: The first encouraging news is that Shannon has taken interest in the most popular general field of study. The BDCD tell her that 26% of Bachelor degree holders in Minnesota majored in Business, making this the most frequently selected college major. Within Business as a general field of study, there are many specific tracks to select from. The most popular track is Business Management and Administration. 31.3% of Business majors opt for this track. Also popular are General Business (19.2%), Accounting (17.5%), Marketing and Market research (13.6%), Finance (8.8%), Management Information and Statistics (2.5%), and Human Resources and Personnel Management (1.8%).
Shannon further learns that Bachelor degree holders who graduated with a Business major fit into a variety of management, supervisory, and related occupations, but the most popular occupation is “Accountants and Auditors, with 11% Business majors choosing this occupation. This is followed by Miscellaneous Managers (6.4%), Sales Representatives (3.9%), Financial Managers, First-line supervisors of retail sales workers, and Management analysts (2.9%).
The choice of specific tracks with Business also leads to somewhat different employment outcomes. For example, Actuarial Science majors face a 0% unemployment, an Accounting major faces a 1% unemployment, but a Business Economics major faces a 9% chance of unemployment.
The median annual earnings will also differ by choice of track. An Actuarial Science major will earn $40,000 at the median; An Hospitality Management major will earn $45,000 at the median, but accounting majors will earn $70,000 and those who tracked into Management Information Systems and Statistics will make $97,000 at the median.
Since both her parents have advanced degrees, Shannon is also interested in learning about how likely Business majors are to go on to receive an advanced degree. From the BDCD she learns that a high proportion of Business majors do not earn advanced degrees, although the specific proportion depends on the specific track they opt into. 18% of accounting majors get an advanced degree, while only 13% of Actuarial science majors get an advanced degree. General Business, Finance, and International Business graduates have the highest proportion of Master’s degree holders (17%). 1% or less of Business majors get a doctoral degree.
Hannity realizes that some fields of study are a better fit for certain occupations than others
Hannity is a college freshman and has recently become interested in social work. He is thinking of majoring in Sociology as a way to train for becoming a social worker. Upon exploring the “search by occupation” tab of the BDCD, Hannity realizes that the field of study that most frequently feeds into social work is actually Social work, but Bachelor degree holders who major in Psychology or Criminal Justice and Fire Protection can also become social workers. On the other hand, less than 4% of social workers had Sociology as their major. Hannity is nor rethinking his choice of major so he can maximize his chances of becoming a social worker.
