29 October 2004

Do science and engineering careers require a college degree? No!

It's commonly assumed that a career in science or engineering requires at least a bachelor's degree in a scientific or technical field. But this assumption is incorrect.

A recent study by John Tsapogas of the National Science Foundation (NSF) has found that 5 percent of United States science and engineering jobs are held by people with only a high school diploma. Another 17 percent are held by people with 2-year associate's degrees.

This remarkable finding should encourage amateur scientists who are seeking employment in science and engineering fields. As science and engineering workers with only limited academic preparation have learned, employers often assign much more priority to what a job applicant has achieved than to his or her academic credentials.

Table 2 from the NSF study zeroes in on science and engineering employees with only a high school diploma or associate's degree.

The table reveals that these individuals comprise 40 percent (454,200) of the employees in computer, math and science occupations. And they form 20 percent (492,900) of engineering employees.

While the findings from this NSF study may come as a surprise to some, they won't surprise members of the Society for Amateur Scientists who are gainfully employed in various science and engineering jobs, even though they lack 4-year science and engineering college diplomas. Nor will the findings surprise Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and one of the world's richest men. Gates does not have a college degree.

The full NSF report is well worth reading, especially by amateur scientists and engineers who might want to seek employment in science and engineering fields. The report can be found here.

Forrest M. Mims III