A Simple Guide to STEM Majors: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

High School:
• Aca­d­e­mics: Focus on math, sci­ence, and crit­i­cal think­ing skills. Take chal­leng­ing cours­es in these areas.
• Explo­ration: Research dif­fer­ent STEM majors and career paths. Talk to pro­fes­sion­als, shad­ow them if pos­si­ble.
• Hands-on expe­ri­ence: Par­tic­i­pate in sci­ence fairs, robot­ics clubs, research projects, or intern­ships.
• Skills devel­op­ment: Hone your com­mu­ni­ca­tion, team­work, and prob­lem-solv­ing abil­i­ties.
Gen­er­al Tips:
• Build a strong foun­da­tion: Ear­ly suc­cess in math and sci­ence helps set the stage.
• Explore your inter­ests: Don’t lim­it your­self! Find a field that excites you.
• Devel­op essen­tial skills: Effec­tive com­mu­ni­ca­tion and team­work are cru­cial.
• Embrace chal­lenges: Per­sis­tence is key, learn from set­backs and keep grow­ing.
• Seek sup­port: Con­nect with men­tors, pro­fes­sors, and peers for guid­ance and moti­va­tion.
Start ear­ly, stay curi­ous, and don’t be afraid to chal­lenge your­self. The world of STEM awaits your unique tal­ents and contributions!

There’s no sin­gle “best” degree for STEM! It depends entire­ly on your indi­vid­ual inter­ests, skills, and career aspi­ra­tions. Here’s what to con­sid­er:
• Inter­ests: What tru­ly fas­ci­nates you? Do you love tin­ker­ing with machines (engi­neer­ing), unrav­el­ing bio­log­i­cal mys­ter­ies (life sci­ences), or design­ing ele­gant algo­rithms (com­put­er sci­ence)?
• Skills: Are you ana­lyt­i­cal and detail-ori­ent­ed, or are you more cre­ative and enjoy solv­ing puz­zles? Know­ing your strengths will help you nav­i­gate diverse fields.
• Career Goals: What type of work envi­ron­ment do you envi­sion? Do you want to work in research labs, devel­op cut­ting-edge tech­nolo­gies, or tack­le glob­al chal­lenges like cli­mate change? Research­ing career paths with­in dif­fer­ent majors can guide your deci­sion.
• Explore Broad­ly: Don’t get stuck on a sin­gle major too ear­ly! Take intro­duc­to­ry cours­es in var­i­ous STEM fields, talk to advi­sors and pro­fes­sion­als, and con­sid­er intern­ships or research projects to gain real-world expe­ri­ence.
Every STEM degree is valu­able. Each offers unique skills and opens doors to excit­ing careers.
Your inter­ests and skills evolve. Stay flex­i­ble and open to dis­cov­er­ing new pas­sions with­in STEM.
Focus on your strengths. Choose a major that aligns with your tal­ents and moti­vates you.
There are a wealth of resources avail­able online and through guid­ance coun­selors to help you explore dif­fer­ent STEM degrees. Remem­ber, the “best” degree is the one that fuels your pas­sion and sets you on a path to ful­fill­ing your career aspirations.

It’s under­stand­able to be curi­ous about the top-pay­ing STEM fields, but as men­tioned before, it’s essen­tial to be cau­tious about bas­ing your career choice sole­ly on this fac­tor. How­ev­er, since you’re inter­est­ed, here’s some infor­ma­tion based on reli­able sources:
Accord­ing to the Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics (BLS):
• Petro­le­um engi­neers: Medi­an annu­al wage of $146,850 
• Physi­cians and sur­geons: Medi­an annu­al wage of $214,460 (This cat­e­go­ry includes many spe­cial­ties, each with vary­ing salaries)
• Com­put­er and infor­ma­tion research sci­en­tists: Medi­an annu­al wage of $131,490 
• Aero­space engi­neers: Medi­an annu­al wage of $124,350 
• Ortho­don­tists: Medi­an annu­al wage of $240,320 (Note: Requires sig­nif­i­cant addi­tion­al edu­ca­tion and licen­sure)
It’s impor­tant to approach the “high­est pay­ing STEM major” ques­tion with cau­tion. While salary is a fac­tor, focus­ing sole­ly on it can lead to career choic­es that don’t align with your inter­ests or long-term goals. Here’s what to con­sid­er:
• Income Varies: Rank­ings change fre­quent­ly, and salaries with­in each major can vary great­ly depend­ing on expe­ri­ence, loca­tion, indus­try, and spe­cial­iza­tion. Don’t chase a spe­cif­ic num­ber; explore fields that excite you and offer poten­tial for growth.
• Beyond Mon­ey: Con­sid­er fac­tors like job sat­is­fac­tion, work-life bal­ance, impact on soci­ety, and oppor­tu­ni­ties for advance­ment. A ful­fill­ing career path is more valu­able than sim­ply the high­est pay­check.
• Focus on Skills: Devel­op strong ana­lyt­i­cal, prob­lem-solv­ing, and com­mu­ni­ca­tion skills. These are trans­fer­able across STEM fields and con­tribute sig­nif­i­cant­ly to earn­ing poten­tial.
• Stay Informed: Uti­lize reli­able resources like the Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics or pro­fes­sion­al orga­ni­za­tions to research salary trends and job out­look for spe­cif­ic majors.
Choose a major that allows you to excel. The skills and work eth­ic you cul­ti­vate will ulti­mate­ly shape your earn­ing poten­tial more than any spe­cif­ic degree title.

Remem­ber, what’s “hard­est” varies from per­son to per­son. Some might find chal­lenges excit­ing. Still, some majors are often seen as tough due to:
• Abstract ideas: Physics, math, and the­o­ret­i­cal com­put­er sci­ence need strong prob­lem-solv­ing skills.
• Tough class­es: Engi­neer­ing needs lots of work and focus.
• High-Pres­sure Labs: Pre-med fields need lots of mem­o­riza­tion and lab work.
• Com­pe­ti­tion: Cer­tain majors like engi­neer­ing can be very com­pet­i­tive.
Some majors seen as “hard” are:
• Physics: Needs deep under­stand­ing of com­plex laws and math.
• Math: Deals with tricky ideas like proofs and log­ic.
• Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing: Uses lots of math and physics with com­plex projects.
• Bio­med­ical Engi­neer­ing: Mix­es engi­neer­ing with med­ical knowl­edge, needs lots of skills.
• Organ­ic Chem­istry: Needs mem­o­riz­ing tough reac­tions and good think­ing skills.
But remember—everyone’s dif­fer­ent. What’s tough for one per­son might be easy for anoth­er. Pick a major you’re excit­ed about, and hard work can help you han­dle any­thing.
Instead of focus­ing on the “hard­est” major, con­sid­er:
• What are your strengths and weak­ness­es?
• What sub­jects fas­ci­nate you?
• What kind of work envi­ron­ment do you envi­sion?
• What career goals do you have?
Answer­ing these ques­tions will guide you towards a ful­fill­ing and suc­cess­ful STEM path, regard­less of its per­ceived dif­fi­cul­ty level.

It’s cru­cial to con­sid­er sev­er­al fac­tors when dis­cussing the “low­est pay­ing” STEM major:
Data can be nuanced: Rank­ings change fre­quent­ly, and aver­age salaries with­in each major vary con­sid­er­ably based on:
• Expe­ri­ence: Ear­ly career salaries dif­fer from mid-career and beyond.
• Loca­tion: Cost of liv­ing sig­nif­i­cant­ly impacts earn­ing poten­tial.
• Indus­try: Pub­lic vs. pri­vate sec­tors offer dif­fer­ent salary struc­tures.
• Spe­cial­iza­tion: Spe­cif­ic areas with­in a major can com­mand high­er pay.
Instead of focus­ing sole­ly on the low­est paid, con­sid­er:
• Growth poten­tial: Salary fig­ures don’t always reflect growth tra­jec­to­ries. Some majors might start low­er but offer faster salary increas­es.
• Job sat­is­fac­tion: A ful­fill­ing career goes beyond the pay­check. Eval­u­ate oth­er fac­tors like work-life bal­ance and impact.
• Per­son­al skills: Devel­op strong trans­fer­able skills like com­mu­ni­ca­tion, prob­lem-solv­ing, and team­work. These con­tribute sig­nif­i­cant­ly to earn­ing poten­tial across fields.
Based on recent data, some majors typ­i­cal­ly fall at the low­er end of STEM salary aver­ages (but remem­ber, indi­vid­ual fac­tors mat­ter):
• Envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence and con­ser­va­tion: Medi­an annu­al wage of $46,080
• Ecol­o­gy and evo­lu­tion­ary biol­o­gy: Medi­an annu­al wage of $48,890 
• Anthro­pol­o­gy and arche­ol­o­gy: Medi­an annu­al wage of $50,240
• Forestry and con­ser­va­tion sci­ences: Medi­an annu­al wage of $62,210
• Soil sci­ence and plant sci­ence: Medi­an annu­al wage of $62,910