New Geoscience Student Exit Survey Published

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New Geoscience Student Exit Survey Published
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1/27/2016
 
The annual Status of Recent Geoscience Graduates 2015 report has been released by the American Geosciences Institute, and covers the experiences of geoscience majors through university-level programs and on which sectors graduates had gained employment by the time of commencement. 
 
Among the highlights, is a decrease in the number of undergraduate geoscientists indicating that they would be enrolling in graduate school immediately following the completion of their degree as well as a shift in employment from oil and gas industries to the environmental and engineering fields. 
 
"I feel the drop in students heading to grad school could be reflecting the increasing difficulty students might be experiencing trying to gain admission into graduate geoscience programs," report author Carolyn Wilson said. "AGI has been engaged in several anecdotal discussions with department faculty indicating that they are at, or near, enrollment capacity within their graduate departments." 
 
This report covers a year in which a major employer of geoscientists - the oil and gas industry - was rocked by low prices of oil.  While this industry is still a major employer of master's and Ph.D. geoscientists, bachelor-level geoscientists were not as widely sought after in 2014-2015. This study did show that the environmental services industry has also become a viable career option for bachelor-level geoscientists. Additionally, the non-profit and information services industries hired students immediately upon graduation indicating geoscientists are considering career options in non-traditional aspects of the geoscience.
 
The latest version of the report still underscores the incredible value experiences like, field camp, research experiences, internships and high-level quantitative and statistical coursework can have for a graduating geoscientist. The complete report is available online for free download http://www.americangeosciences.org/workforce/reports, or a print version can be purchase from Amazon for $15 at http://amzn.to/1ny3A4Y. 
 
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The American Geosciences Institute is a nonprofit federation of geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 250,000 geologists, geophysicists and other earth scientists. Founded in 1948, AGI provides information services to geoscientists, serves as a voice of shared interests in the profession, plays a major role in strengthening geoscience education, and strives to increase public awareness of the vital role the geosciences play in society's use of resources, resiliency to natural hazards, and interaction with the environment.
 

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