Physics bachelors one year later and the pandemic

• Autores: Susan C. White
• Localización: The Physics Teacher, ISSN 0031-921X, Vol. 62, Nº. 3, 2024, págs. 237-237
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Last month, we noted that about half of physics bachelor’s degree recipients pursue graduate study, while the other half enter the workforce. The figure below provides a look back over the last 25 years. We see a decline in the proportion of graduates entering the workforce in the early 2000s, likely due to economic pressures. We see a similar drop for the most recent graduates. We saw the highest proportion of graduates unemployed and seeking that we have ever seen in our data. This shift toward a higher unemployment rate was likely driven by the major recession and stock market crash in 2020, both driven by the uncertainty of COVID-19’s impact on the economy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of nonfarm job openings from February 2020 to April 2020 dropped by 2.5 million (34%).