American Geosciences Institute Releases Status of Recent Geoscience Graduates 2017

Alexandria, Va. — The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) is pleased to announce the publication of Status of Recent Geoscience Graduates 2017. This report details the results of AGI’s Geoscience Student Exit Survey for academic year 2016-2017, documenting trends in geoscience coursework, student experiences, and the immediate career plans of the new graduates. This is the fifth consecutive year of this survey and report, and with this release, consistent trends have emerged about the experiences of postsecondary geoscience students.

AGI’s Geoscience Student Exit Survey details responses from this year’s graduates as well as in selected analyses, time-series or aggregated responses detailing identified trends. The aggregated responses are visualized in several ways, including a Sankey diagram which shows the flow of students through the higher education system while underscoring the value of field experiences, research, and internships as stepping stones to employment.

Over the past five years, this report has shown that geoscience graduates at all degree levels tend to receive a strong technical background in the geosciences. However, in 2017, hiring of recent graduates at graduation was at its lowest for all degree levels in the past five years. This year also had the highest percentage of master’s graduates planning to work on an additional graduate degree instead of entering the workforce. A number of factors may be attributed to these changes, including a slow recovery in the sources industries and the displacement of some jobs with automation.

Status of Recent Geoscience Graduates 2017 is available online as a free download from AGI at https://www.americangeosciences.org/workforce/reports. A print version can be purchased from Amazon.com for $15 at http://a.co/gXhh6oV.