Is It Worth Doing a Science or Technology Degree in Canada? Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications

This paper looks at the early careers of science and technology graduates in Canada using three waves of the National Graduates Surveys. Employment rates, earnings levels, job satisfaction, the job-education skill match, and the overall evaluation of the education program are studied in order to evaluate the attractiveness of careers in science and technology and the degree to which these graduates' skills and talents are being efficiently utilized. We find that computer science and health graduates have generally done very well; that engineers have performed in a solid, although not spectacular, fashion; and that pure and especially applied science graduates have lagged behind, especially at the undergraduate level. The implications of these findings for the accumulation of the science and technology knowledge bases in Canada in the context of the emerging "knowledge-based economy" are discussed.