New Geoscience Student Exit Survey Published: Decrease in Grad School Enrollment & Shift in Employment

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 environmental and engineering fields, are among the highlights of the latest American Geosciences Institute’s (AGI) Geoscience Student Exit Survey.

“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.”

The oil and gas industry, a major employer of geoscientists, was rocked by low prices in the year covered by this study. While this industry is still a significant employer of master’s and Ph.D. geoscientists, bachelor-level geoscientists were not as widely sought after in 2014-2015. 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 that geoscientists are considering career options in non-traditional aspects of the geoscience field.

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://bit.ly/IxwNoOpf, or a print version can be purchased from Amazon for $15 at http://amzn.to/1ny3A4yY.