Degrees that make you rich...and those that don't

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has published research which looks at the correlation between degree subject and earning.

Unsurprisingly, those who study medicine and dentistry rank top with the median annual earning 5 years after graduating is 48k. Economics, Mathematics, Veterinary science, and Engineering & Technology make up the rest of the top 5, all earning over 30k.

The reserach also looks at how which uni the graduate attended affects pay and the difference between how much men and women earn, with recent female graduates earn 2k less than their male counterparts.

You can read the full story here.

What do you make of this? Do you think this is accurate? Are there any surprises?

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Drewski

I think the phrase "no sh1t, Sherlock :holmes:

" applies here

Reply 2

Texxers

Always makes me proud and happy seeing my degree being high up there :biggrin:

Reply 3

adamantacademic

I wonder what range of salary a BSc (Hons) degree in Fartology and Excrements Science would warrant?

Reply 4

Wired_1800

Original post by Texxers

Always makes me proud and happy seeing my degree being high up there :biggrin:

But are you rich though? It is one thing to have studied the degree, it is another to be rich.

Not all those kids, who have studied those subjects are rich. Some might even be unemployed.

Reply 5

Quirky Object

Same as a law degree and joint highest-earning humanities degree; pretty solid.

Reply 6

Texxers

Original post by Wired_1800

But are you rich though? It is one thing to have studied the degree, it is another to be rich.

Not all those kids, who have studied those subjects are rich. Some might even be unemployed.

Ummm yeah... I be minted bruh.

Reply 7

hslakaal

"For example, students of law, economics and management subjects at the London School of Economics do extremely well, with 10% of male graduates earning more than £300,000 by the time they are in their early 30s."

What's the point of being highest 5-years post graduation when you make wayyy less than that for the rest of your working life, eh? :|

Reply 8

saffarinda

I would've thought communications (presumably with marketing) would've been higher due to jobs in business and HR, hmm. Nothing else is that shocking though.

Reply 9

DrSebWilkes

I really hope that gender pay "gap" isn't something that people get het up on but ... it doesn't look great, does it?

Reply 10

the bear

people make such a kerfuffle about money

smh

Spoiler

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 11

Plagioclase

tfw you want to go into academia and will be poor forever

Reply 12

Doones

Note.

"Remarkably though, even when comparing students who did the same subject at the same university, those from the richest households still earn around 10% more than their peers from less affluent backgrounds."

Reply 13

NeuroJanine

I see "All Medicine" and "Medicine and Dentistry" erm, confusing no?

Reply 14

That Bearded Man

Medicine is majorly being pushed towards post grad only - so that could be reworded as "median salary after 8 years of starting your degree" and tell a different story.

Reply 15

That Bearded Man

Original post by Doonesbury

"Remarkably?"

Are they for real?

Reply 16

That Bearded Man

Original post by Sonechka

Same as a law degree and joint highest-earning humanities degree; pretty solid.

How on earth does Languages get up so highly? What kind of jobs is that applying to?

Reply 17

black1blade

Original post by Sonechka

Same as a law degree and joint highest-earning humanities degree; pretty solid.

Above physical sciences smh. Tbf physical sciences is a very broad category and some of my courses are actually joint with maths so. That said I reckon maths is so high from people doing financially related jobs which 100% is not what I wanna do with my life.

lol at arts & design

Original post by Danny Dorito

Meh the graph is somewhat meaningless imo, as most courses are non-vocational so most people apply for grad roles that dont require a specific degree, just that they have one, so it is their career choice not degree subject that dictates their salary. From what I see the reason physics + maths earn more than say history is because most people in p+m are more willing to go into finance etc and just take a job just because it pays a lot, people who went to uni to do say history just dont want those careers (even though they can get into them just fine), so even though the 'average' says you will earn more with a maths degree than a history degree you can still earn the same as a individual if you choose to go into the same career

As for the pay gap between men and women, I think it is a load of rubbish (in the UK) and is sold as 'if you're a woman you will earn less than a man no matter what you do' when in reality it is just the proportion of men to women in specific careers isnt 50:50 that makes it look like there is a pay gap ie there are more men than women in IB + general finance and more women in things like nursing, primary school teaching etc which, in terms of pay, are massively different, so if you take an average without first taking into account proportions of men to women in different careers you will obviously get a stupid result.