Most prevalent jobs of young bachelor’s degree graduates by detailed field of study

Marc Frenette and Tomasz Handler

Economic and Social Reports from Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies and Modelling Branch

Abstract: Investing in a postsecondary education is one of the most important decisions made by people over their lifetime. Understanding the potential outcomes associated with specific postsecondary academic programs may help inform young people, but most of the available information focuses on earnings. While important, earnings say little about what postsecondary graduates are likely to do in their career, which may factor heavily in their decision-making process. This article presents the most prevalent jobs held by graduates of Canadian bachelor’s degree programs aged 25 to 34 using the 2021 Census of Population. Importantly, the results are presented in the most disaggregated manner possible in terms of the fields of study and the occupations held by graduates. The findings suggest that only a very small number of academic programs were associated with a specific job, with nursing and pharmacy programs displaying the strongest associations, followed by teacher training programs. Most academic programs were instead linked to various jobs. In many cases, these jobs were at least somewhat related to the program. These findings point to the importance for most graduates of developing a wide range of skills that could potentially be used throughout their careers.

Keywords: field of study; postsecondary education; earnings (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J23 M21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-12-21
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:stc:stcp8e:202301200002e

DOI: 10.25318/36280001202301200002-eng

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