Are Engineers' Salaries More Stagnant Than Other Careers'?

<p>I would post more data, but I can’t seem to locate Columbia’s and Stanford’s career surverys.</p>

<p>

First of all, the Ivy league is not the place to see characteristic engineering education - most people attending Penn for engineering do not have a career as an engineer in mind.</p>

<p>Second, I assume you got 17% by adding “engineering/consulting” to “technology”, ommitting “manufacturing” (11%), “energy/natural resources” (5%), “communications” (3%), etc. Yes, 51% of the 55% empluyed full-time are in either consulting or financial services, but while 28% of the class is the significant, it is not necessarily the average, especially when you consider that this is the same percentage as those involved in further studies (either grad school or “post-bac”).</p>

<p>

Do you even realize that the report you posted was for ALL of MIT, not just the engineering school, and that MIT includes one of the top business schools in the world? Big surprise that they would be heavily recruited by a consulting firm. 8 of the top 1o companies hiring at MIT are tech companies.</p>

<p>Did you also notice that only 5% of undergrads got their jobs through advertised listings like Monster, et al? I ask because you keep bringing that up as a major hiring tool.</p>

<p>@cosmicfish, </p>

<p>Did not ask Homer to use logic thinking…he as a accounting degree.</p>

<p>“U.S. colleges and universities are graduating as many scientists and engineers as ever, according to a study released on Oct. 28 by a group of academics. But that finding comes with a big caveat: Many of the highest-performing students are choosing careers in other fields. The study by professors at Rutgers and Georgetown suggests that since the late 1990s, many of the top students have been lured to careers in finance and consulting.”</p>

<p>[Study:</a> No Shortage of U.S. Engineers - BusinessWeek](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p>

<p>“Highly qualified students may be choosing a non-STEM job
because it pays better, offers a more stable professional career, and/or perceived as less
exposed to competition from low-wage economies. These potential alternatives could
include business, healthcare, or law.”</p>

<p><a href=“http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/salzman/SteadyAsSheGoes.pdf[/url]”>http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/salzman/SteadyAsSheGoes.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I just stuumbled onto this article, so let’s briefly return to the cop vs. engiener pay debate:</p>

<p>"He is also working in the state with the highest-paid police in the country. Last year, Closter had the sixth-best-paid department in New Jersey, with a median salary of $122,181 before overtime. Seventeen of its 20 officers, including Aiello, made at least $100,000.</p>

<p>A Star-Ledger analysis shows the average municipal cop in New Jersey is paid 80 percent more than the average resident, and three of 10 made at least $100,000 last year. In addition, police tend to be paid the best in small towns with little crime.</p>

<p>Among the other findings:</p>

<p>• The median salary for the state’s 20,525 municipal officers was $90,672 last year, meaning half earned more and half earned less.</p>

<p>• A total of 6,198 municipal officers made at least $100,000 last year. Ninety-nine of 466 towns that pay police have six-figure median salaries. Most are in North Jersey, primarily Bergen County.</p>

<p>• Suburban cops are paid the best while city officers generally make less and rural cops make the least.</p>

<p>[N.J</a>. police salaries rank highest in nation with median pay of $90,672 | NJ.com](<a href=“http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/nj_police_salaries_rank_highes.html]N.J”>N.J. police salaries rank highest in nation with median pay of $90,672 - nj.com)</p>

<p>Sadly, most engineers will never make the kind of money NJ cops do after factoring in overtime. Many engineers will never even make what cops earn without overtime.</p>

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So when do you join the academy? I am sure New Jersey is looking forward to you, and since you are currently in New York you won’t have far to travel!</p>

<p>Homer, you can’t just pull stats from the state that has the highest cop salary in the nation and pretend like that’s what all cops make…</p>