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Article Excerpt
What will you need to succeed in the job market of tomorrow? In an increasingly competitive world, the best advice for jobseekers is to develop new skills. Education is a good way to develop skills--and it may lead to better employment prospects and higher earnings. But opportunities for secure, lucrative careers also exist for workers who prefer to acquire skills on the job. This article uses data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the U.S. Census Bureau to analyze how workers' education or training relates to their job prospects and earnings. The information is useful for learning about occupations and possible career options at various education levels.
The first section of the article explains the methodology used. The second section looks at data and trends relating to the educational attainment of workers. The next sections analyze selected occupations grouped into categories that are based on the typical educational attainment of the workers in them: bachelor's or higher degree; a mix of levels; and high school diploma or less. The end of the article suggests additional sources of information.
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Methods used
Wage data in this article come from the BLS Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) survey, and the earnings premium and educational attainment data are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS). Analyses of job openings use data from the BLS Employment Projections program.
Wage data and earnings premiums
Median annual wages from the OES survey represent gross pay for wage and salary workers in the U.S. economy. For occupations with median annual wages of more than $145,600, a specific wage figure is not given because the OES survey does not publish wage data above this amount. In these cases, the tables show that median wages were greater than or equal to ([greater than or equal to]) $145,600.
And because the OES survey does not collect occupational data by educational attainment, earnings premiums are calculated from ACS data. The ACS data cover all workers in the economy, including the self-employed. Earnings premiums are the variation in income between workers with different education levels in the same occupation.
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Educational attainment
In this article, ACS data on educational attainment are for employed persons between 25 and 44 years of age. The age of the population surveyed is limited to these age cutoffs for two reasons. Many workers younger than age 25 have not yet reached their peak education level; becoming a doctor, for example, usually requires a professional degree and many years of study beyond the bachelor's degree level. And workers older than age 44 are excluded because, generally, the usual educational requirements for many occupations have increased over time, making data from older workers unrepresentative of current requirements.
Job openings
BLS projects opportunities for new workers from two sources: new openings resulting from growth, and openings resulting from workers who leave an occupation and need to be replaced.
Openings due to growth are based on projections of employment change between 2006 and 2016. Occupations grow as the demand increases for the goods they produce or services they provide. Most occupations grow over time, along with growth in the economy and the population. But some occupations decline due to factors such as automation or work restructuring.
Workers leave their occupations for many reasons, such as to retire from the workforce, take a new job, raise a family, or go back to school. These workers need to be replaced, and replacement needs are a major source of opportunities for new workers. Replacement needs are calculated for each occupation by looking at past trends of workers who leave the occupation and at the current demographic breakdown of the occupation.
Educational attainment data and trends
Data on workers' educational attainment are measured by the highest level of schooling completed. Over the long term, there has been a trend toward increased educational attainment. According to data from the Current Population Survey--a survey of households that collects labor-force and demographic data--the share of the population aged 16 and over who have college degrees roughly doubled over the past three decades, as did the share of those with some college education. Over the same time, the share of those attaining a high school diploma or less declined. (See chart 1.)
These trends are a response to the career advantages of education. As shown in chart 2, every additional level of education completed leads to increased earnings and lower rates of unemployment. And the largest earnings increase, 42 percent, comes with earning a high school diploma. (More information about earnings premiums for completing high school begins on page 25.)
Employment of college graduates is projected to grow faster than average from 2006 to 2016. However, employment of workers with less education will also increase, and the need to replace workers who retire will create openings for workers of all education levels.
Grouping occupations by education level
In the three sections that follow, occupations are grouped into categories based on the educational composition of their workforce. These categories are: college, mixed education, and high school. Each section corresponds to one of these categories and is followed by tables of data that are discussed in the text.
For this analysis, an occupation is considered college level if more than 50 percent of its workers have at least a bachelor's degree; this includes those workers who have a graduate degree. Occupations in which most workers have less than a bachelor's degree but more than a high school diploma, or in which there is no majority of workers from a single education level, are in the mixed-education category. And occupations in which most workers have a high school diploma or less education are grouped as high school-level occupations.
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These categories were created for purposes of analysis in this article only; they do not define the educational level of all workers in a category. For example, a college graduate may choose to work in an occupation in which most workers have a high school diploma or less. Similarly, a high school graduate may, in some cases, qualify to work in an occupation consisting primarily of college graduates.
Each of the following sections discusses common education and training options. The sections also present detailed occupations that are projected to have the most openings over the 2006-16 decade. To provide a broader look at employment options, each section also describes major fields of work for people who have the corresponding education level. Accompanying tables display the projected growth rates and 2006 median annual wages of 10 selected occupations from each of these major fields for comparison with the national averages, roughly 10 percent and $30,400, respectively, according to BLS. Some tables also show earnings premiums for workers within occupations who have additional education.
Earnings premiums and differences in wages presented in this article do not stem entirely from workers' educational attainment. For example, higher wages may be due to experience as well as education levels.
College-level occupations
Workers who have a bachelor's or higher degree usually expect a bright future. And with good reason: BLS data show that the number of jobs for workers with a bachelor's or higher degree is projected to increase from 38 million in 2006, or about 25 percent of the workforce, to more than 43 million by 2016. That's a growth rate of nearly 15 percent--faster than the average growth for all occupations, and faster than the rate for jobs at other education levels. Completing a college education also enhances workers' earning potential.
The tables accompanying this section are on pages 10-14.
Types of collegiate education. In this article, undergraduate and graduate levels of educational attainment are discussed together.
People earn an undergraduate degree when they graduate from a 4-year college or university. The most common undergraduate degrees are the bachelor of arts (B.A.) and the bachelor of science (B.S.), which are available in many fields of study.
Although many occupations are typically filled by workers who have a bachelor's degree, a few occupations usually require even more education in the form of a graduate degree. U.S. universities offer three principal types of graduate degrees: master's, doctoral, and first professional.
Master's degrees usually require 1 to 2 years of full-time study beyond a bachelor's degree. Common master's degrees include the master of business administration (M.B.A.), master of arts (M.A.), master of science (M.S.), and master of education (M.Ed.).
Doctoral degrees usually require 4 to 6 years of full-time study beyond a bachelor's degree and include completion of a dissertation, a lengthy work of independent research. The most common doctoral degree is the doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.), which is awarded in many academic fields.
First professional degrees prepare students for employment in a specific occupation and typically take between 2 and 4 years of full-time graduate-level study. Common first professional degrees include the doctor of medicine (M.D.) and doctor of law (J.D.).
Occupations with many openings.
In which occupations do workers with a bachelor's or higher degree generally work? Although dispersed throughout the economy, these workers are more common in some occupations than in others. For example, BLS data show that in 2006, about half of all workers in college-level occupations were in jobs related to education, healthcare, and computers. (See chart 3.)
Chart 4 shows the detailed college-level occupations projected to provide the most job openings over the next 10 years, as well as 2006 wages in those occupations. The list is diverse, suggesting that there will be opportunities for these graduates in many fields. In addition, each of the listed occupations had wages above the annual median for all occupations in 2006.
Just as college-level occupations are, as a whole, growing faster than average, so too are many of the detailed occupations on the chart. In fact, 8 of the 10 occupations in chart 4 are projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations.
But neither many openings nor fast growth guarantee that everyone who wants a job will get one. The high wages and prestige of many of the occupations on the chart make them popular choices for job entrants. If the number of jobseekers is higher than the number of openings, not everyone who wants to find employment and is qualified will be able to do so in these occupations.
Major fields of work. Jobs in healthcare, education, management, computer and engineering, and business and finance are popular choices for college-level workers.
Healthcare. Demand for healthcare is expected to increase to meet the needs of a growing and aging population. According to BLS, almost all healthcare occupations are growing faster than the average for all occupations through 2016. (See table 1.) Registered nurses are expected to be in especially high demand.
Usual education requirements and wages vary significantly among healthcare occupations. A bachelor's degree isn't always necessary to find work in all of these occupations--for example, nurse and lab...
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