Should you pursue a career in science, technology, engineering, or math, also known as STEM? If your talents lie in this direction, there are many exciting, lucrative career paths. Below are some of the advantages of choosing one of them.
Make a Difference
When many think about making the world a better place, they often think about working in fields such as social work or humanitarian aid, but STEM is also an excellent way to make a difference. Innovations in areas such as medicine, communications and agriculture driven by people with a STEM background ensure that more people get the health care, opportunities, and nourishment that they need. Your expertise can be invaluable in helping people improve their lives.
Return on Investment
If you are like most students, you may need to take out a loan to help cover the cost of your education. You can research the many options for student loans online and apply. You’ll have the opportunity to choose among different amounts and payment plans. An advantage of a STEM career is that the salaries tend to be high, so you can feel more confident in paying off your student loan relatively quickly after you graduate. There are also plenty of job openings. If financial security is a priority for you, this is an excellent career choice.
Interesting Work
Not everyone wants to be engaged all day at work; they’d rather do something fairly mindless that allows them to save their energy for other pursuits. If this is you, then STEM may not be the right field for you. On the other hand, if you enjoy constantly learning new things, facing challenges, and problem-solving, it could be an excellent fit. In fact, depending on your particular field of study, you could be at the vanguard of human discovery, part of a team exploring space, robotics, or the promise of artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence looks promising to be able to increase business productivity with AI.
Adaptable
Certain career fields change rapidly over a period of decades or end up getting phased out altogether. With a STEM career, you’ll never have to worry about this. These are the types of jobs that drive the future, and continually adapting to new tech and discoveries is what your work will be all about. You won’t have to worry about obsolescence in STEM. In addition, the strong technical skills that you pick up are usually transferable. You may end up with the opportunity to work in several different industries over the course of your career.
Do What You Love
While it’s certainly true that for some people, STEM is going to be just another job, if you’re passionate about the field you choose, you may end up as one of those rare and fortunate people who genuinely loves what they do for a living. You can’t beat getting paid to do something you’d be delighted to do for free if you were allowed. Many often associate the idea of following your passion with low paying or even nonexistent careers, but this is not the case in STEM.
