What is the employment situation of female graduates who have studied STEM subjects?

96 per cent of female STEM graduates are in work one year after graduating. There are very few differences between the various disciplines here. The five most common occupations are academia and higher education; architecture and interior design; pharmacy; biology; and engineering.

Female STEM graduates earn an average of 60,000 Swiss francs per year, which is higher than the incomes of female law and psychology graduates but lower than the average gross income of male STEM graduates. 71 per cent of female STEM graduates work full-time, but part-time jobs are also common. Almost one in four female graduates in a STEM subject works between 50 per cent and 89 per cent of a full-time job.

Just under 30 per cent of STEM graduates start a doctorate immediately after completing their Master’s degree. At the same time, 14 per cent of female STEM graduates are already in managerial roles one year after graduating, which is far more than graduates in other subjects.

Graduates in STEM subjects find employment relatively easily. On average they only have to apply just under 15 times to find a job, which is less than graduates in other subjects.

At the same time, 60 per cent of female graduates claim that they have had difficulty finding a job that meets their personal expectations. This is similar to the experience of female graduates in other subjects and actually lower than that of male STEM graduates. It should be emphasised, however, that around 10 per cent of female graduates – across all subject areas – claim that these difficulties are related to their gender. Only 2 per cent of STEM graduates mention similar difficulties.

69 per cent of female STEM graduates would choose the same degree course again in retrospect, which is 7 percentage points less than male STEM graduates.

Female STEM graduates seem to be satisfied with their employment situation one year after completing their Master’s degrees. Compared with female graduates in other degree subjects, their level of satisfaction with their incomes in particular is higher, as is their satisfaction with the opportunities available for advancement and continuing professional development. Their work/life balance and working environment are also rated fairly positively. 81 per cent of female STEM graduates are either satisfied or very satisfied with their working environment. Nevertheless, there are differences among graduates. Corresponding to the responses about the application process, female STEM graduates seem to be slightly more dissatisfied overall with their employment situation than male STEM graduates.

Female STEM graduates seem to have positive employment situation

96 per cent of female STEM graduates are in work five years after graduation, 67 per cent of whom are employed full-time. Although far fewer female STEM graduates have full-time jobs than male graduates, their proportion is fairly high compared with female graduates in psychology and other subjects.

In contrast to their incomes one year after graduation, the incomes of female STEM graduates are lower than the incomes of female law graduates. Somewhat surprisingly, the incomes of female STEM graduates – standardised to full-time equivalents – are also lower than the incomes of graduates in other disciplines.

79 per cent of female STEM graduates report that a degree in their own subject is necessary for their jobs, which is slightly higher than the proportion for most other fields of study.

Based on this simple descriptive analysis, it appears that female STEM graduates are in a fairly encouraging employment situation overall after graduating with a Master’s degree, differing slightly from male STEM graduates and other female graduates.