| Table 3-3 | ||||||
| Measures and size of U.S. S&E workforce: 2010, 2011, and 2012 | ||||||
| Measure | Education coverage | Data source | Workers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occupation | ||||||
| Employed in S&E occupations | All education levels | 2012 BLS OES | 5,968,000 | |||
| Employed in S&E occupations | Bachelor’s and above | 2010 NSF/NCSES SESTAT | 5,398,000 | |||
| Employed in S&E occupations | All education levels | 2011 Census Bureau ACS | 5,756,000 | |||
| Employed in S&E occupations | Bachelor’s and above | 2011 Census Bureau ACS | 4,279,000 | |||
| Education | ||||||
| At least one degree in S&E field | Bachelor’s and above | 2010 NSF/NCSES SESTAT | 19,493,000 | |||
| Highest degree in S&E field | Bachelor’s and above | 2010 NSF/NCSES SESTAT | 14,457,000 | |||
| Job closely related to highest degree | Bachelor’s and above | 2010 NSF/NCSES SESTAT | 5,396,000 | |||
| S&E occupation | Bachelor’s and above | 2010 NSF/NCSES SESTAT | 2,796,000 | |||
| Other occupation | Bachelor’s and above | 2010 NSF/NCSES SESTAT | 2,600,000 | |||
| Job somewhat related to highest degree | Bachelor’s and above | 2010 NSF/NCSES SESTAT | 3,358,000 | |||
| S&E occupation | Bachelor’s and above | 2010 NSF/NCSES SESTAT | 966,000 | |||
| Other occupation | Bachelor’s and above | 2010 NSF/NCSES SESTAT | 2,392,000 | |||
|
Job requires S&E technical expertise at bachelor’s level |
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| In one or more S&E fields | Bachelor’s and above | 2010 NSF/NCSES SESTAT NSCG | 16,456,000 | |||
| Engineering, computer science, mathematics, or natural sciences | Bachelor’s and above | 2010 NSF/NCSES SESTAT NSCG | 11,710,000 | |||
| Social sciences | Bachelor’s and above | 2010 NSF/NCSES SESTAT NSCG | 7,443,000 | |||
|
ACS = American Community Survey; BLS = Bureau of Labor Statistics; NSCG = National Survey of College Graduates; NSF/NCSES = National Science Foundation, National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics; OES = Occupational Employment Statistics Survey; SESTAT = Scientists and Engineers Statistical Data System. NOTES: Estimates of the S&E workforce vary across the example surveys because of differences in the scope of the data collection (SESTAT surveys collect data from individuals with bachelor’s degrees and above only); because of the survey respondent (SESTAT surveys collect data from individuals, OES collects data from establishments, and ACS collects data from households); or because of the level of detail collected on an occupation, which aids in classifying a reported occupation into a standard occupational category. All of these differences can affect the estimates. For example, the SESTAT estimate of the number of workers in S&E occupations includes postsecondary teachers of S&E fields; however, postsecondary teachers in ACS are grouped under a single occupation code regardless of field and are therefore not included in the ACS estimate of the number of workers in S&E occupations.> SOURCES: BLS, 2012 OES; Census Bureau, 2011 ACS; NSF/NCSES, 2010 NSCG, and 2010 SESTAT integrated file. Science and Engineering Indicators 2014 |
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