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Can a Four-Year Degree in Any Hard Science Realistically Get You a Good Job? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I've long toyed with a mid-life pivot into a different field. Mostly, I lean towards IT as the most practical for me, but I love the idea of finally studying a hard science, which I grew to love, but never really got a good formal education in.

I've heard/read, for example, that there aren't necessarily tons of astrophysics jobs out there, so if you only have a bachelor's degree, you might have a tough time. I don't even know that this is true, but I use it as an example.

What are the hard science fields that would be the opposite of this? I could imagine there might be a lot of Chemistry-related jobs, for example, maybe? But I have a hard time imagining what you could do with a pure Physics degree (without also focusing on Engineering or something supplementary)? Would Biology get you anywhere by itself?

Or is it just the hard truth of all hard sciences that you're pretty much worthless with just a four-year degree, from a job perspective?

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[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's not really about the degree. It's the degree program that gets you in the door to the research and network with the people in the field. So, you could get your foot in the door some other way, and end up working without the degree.

IT is really the most practical, because you don't need a lot of experience. But you could also work IT for someone doing science, whether that's a biotech company, a university doing research, or a government lab.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

IT is night and day depending on if you're American. If you are, it's a money printer. If you're not you may or may not be better off in another sector.

It should be mentioned because Lemmy is all people in IT, so OP will get a lot of answers about it.