If you like the idea of developing new food products, testing anti-ageing serums, teaching, setting up businesses or studying the effects of pollution on marine life, then a career in science and mathematics may appeal to you.
You need to be logical, analytical, good at solving problems and accurate in your approach to work.
The science and mathematics career area includes the wide range of careers in maths and the biological, chemical and physical sciences. It also includes materials science and food science and technology.
If you think you may also be interested in other areas of technology you may want to look at the career areas for Engineering, Computing and ICT and Health and Medicine (including Medical Technology).
To see the routes to getting into each of these sectors, take a look at our Career Pathway.
Science and mathematics play a part in a wide range of industries, so you could find yourself working for retail companies to local government or research and development firms.
Job prospects in this career area still look promising, especially for highly qualified scientists and technicians, as the use of new technologies and products continues to grow.
In the academic year 2019/20, the percentage of science and maths graduates in full time employment after 15 months of graduating was: Biology 48.2%; Chemistry 54.8%; Physical and geographical sciences 51.9%; Physics 46.8%; and Mathematics 56%.
Of those, Chemistry graduates were more likely to find work as science professionals (33.2%), while Maths graduates found work primarily in business, HR and finance roles (39.8%).
In 2020, the average salaries for science graduates in full time paid employment in the UK varied across the science subjects. Physics graduates came top with £28,116, then chemistry £25,593 and biology £23.631.
While science and mathematics graduates seem to have slightly lower employment rates across the overall subject spectrum, they are much more likely to take up further study, compared to other graduates: Biology 21.9%; Chemistry 21.5%; Physical and geographical sciences 17.6%; Physics 24.9%; and Mathematics 14.1%.
The University of Strathclyde is home to one of the UK’s biggest chemical engineering schools. The department is internationally renowned for its excellence in research. The department features state-of-the-art facilities including a new Advanced Materials Lab.
The £40 million project One BioHub in Aberdeen will be the centre of life sciences in the north east of Scotland. It will provide support and physical infrastructure allowing businesses to grow.
If you are interested in science careers you might want to visit some of the following websites for information and inspiration:
Courtesy of DYW Skills Academy
