<p>I've heard from most people and many articles that Biochemistry is one of the worst majors for unemployment. For example, it's ranked as the 24th worst here. <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/25-college-majors-with-the-highest-unemployment-rates/">http://www.cbsnews.com/news/25-college-majors-with-the-highest-unemployment-rates/</a>. However, I came across a Forbes article that had Biochemistry as the 2nd most valuable college majors. <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/05/15/best-top-most-valuable-college-majors-degrees/">http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/05/15/best-top-most-valuable-college-majors-degrees/</a>. I know that these lists are looking at different things, but does this mean a Biochemistry major is not as bad as people think it is?</p>
<p>It’s fine if you go on to professional school (medical school, PA, etc.) or graduate school in something like public health (an MPH usually). Otherwise, it’s pretty useless unless you enjoy borderline minimum wage lab tech jobs with little security and no advancement.</p>
<p>There are limited career prospects with just a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences (like biochem or biology). Generally, the positions are academic or industry lab tech positions, or going into teaching. Although some of these industry positions (particularly in pharmaceuticals) can pay relatively well for a starter job out of college, there are not many opportunities for advancement without a higher degree. In both industry and academia, you really need a PhD to climb the career ladder in research. As AuraObscura mentioned, the other option is professional school or moving in a public health direction.</p>
<p>Biochem can be valuable if you get an advanced degree, but you probably need an advanced degree to make that happen.</p>
As a major it is great for premed, prepharm, and many other healthcare professions. However, without a professional degree the kind of jobs it sets you up for are really sucky and dead end. You will end up working in a lab for $15-20 per hour oftentimes on contract via a lousy staffing agency like Kelly or Aerotek and receive no benefits, training, paid time off etc. A Master’s degree won’t help. Most job ads just consider the MS as a BS with 2 years of experience or they will just say BS/MS (no value).
PhD I have commented on the state of science graduate programs in the USA (a pyramid scheme) which sets you up for unemployment or jumping from crappy post-doc to post-doc.
In summary the only value I see for Biology/Chemistry/Biochemistry degrees is as a prerequisite for healthcare.
Source I have an BSc in biochemistry and an MSc in Chemistry specializing in biochemistry.
As for Forbes they seem all over the map with science degrees. They frequently list Biology and Chemistry as the worst majors for jobs (I believe is was Master’s Degrees though). The only way I can see them listing biochem as a good major is if they count doctors and other healthcare professionals as biochemistry majors.
A biochemistry graduate makes more than the average graduate. Median wage is about $55,000 which is the national median for the entire household. Getting a PhD does nearly double that.
the only way I can see they get that is by including people with biochemistry majors that continue on to become doctors or pharmacists. I know of very few people with science degrees. Most eventually go to healthcare, teaching, or unrelated careers. I’ve also seen several studies that indicate that a majority of science grads do not work in science once graduating as a result.
To support sschoe’s statement: http://www.census.gov/dataviz/visualizations/stem/stem-html/
Many more science graduates, especially in the biosciences, go into health care (i.e. medical professions) than those than stay in science. A good 70% go into fields where their education isn’t exactly related to their work.
I can’t really draw any conclusions about Biochemistry degrees in particular from that interactive graphic.
The question had to do with Biochemistry. They tend to be headed to an MD or a PhD. Sometimes they don’t make it there. I know very few who planned to stay in Biochemistry with only a B.S. However, Research Associates often have a Biochemistry B.S.
If you search PayScale for Biochemistry (BCH) you will see what RAs make.
If someone with a degree in biochemistry goes into pharmaceutical sales is their education related to their work?
Thanks for all of the responses! Yeah, from what I’ve heard, most of you are right. Science majors are not very rewarding with only a bachelors major. I’m actually thinking of going into a engineering field at this point, like biochemical or biomedical engineering. I’m very interested in applying science to real world problems, and I’ve heard that engineering careers tend to be much more stable financially. Besides, Forbes based their list on income and job growth, they didn’t take into account the amount of education required to make that income!
If you want to go into biomedical, a very common (and useful) tidbit of advice is this: start with one of the three larger engineering majors: ChemE, ElecE, or MechE. Also, based on personal experience, I would recommend one of the latter two. Working with chemicals, especially on a large scale, shortens your lifespan. No matter how much safety equipment you use, slowly but surely it does poison you.
Almost all of those who start with a bio-related degree, which includes biochem, leave the field. Probably because of the obvious reason.
Probably not. As I just explained, very few go into Biochemistry intending to just “get a job”. They are nearly all headed to PhD or MD or some other health-related endeavor.
Do chemists actually have a significantly shortened life span? I would hope that with today’s standards of safety this isn’t the case. Also, where does environmental engineering stand here? I’m guessing that the job market for an environmental engineering bachelors isn’t much better than a bachelor’s in science?
Spend at least a few days in an organic chemistry lab and you will understand. It won’t kill you quickly, but if you spend some time in one you will see that it is certainly a toxic environment even if you follow all the safety procedures all the time. For example, most female chemists I know over 40 can no longer use nail polish remover because they have developed an allergic reaction to acetone.
Environmental engineering usually comes bundled with civil engineering, which focuses on construction etc. The trouble here is that many environmental jobs are looking for VERY specific qualifications because employers have the luxury of being able to be that picky. Not awful but not what you’re looking for, I might assume.
What a bunch of hogwash. You body itself makes acetone. It’s not the kind of molecule you can become “allergic” to.
Where are you getting all this “wisdom”?
Indeed acetone is a ketone body, a product of fatty acid degradation. Also most allergies are caused by peptide or polysaccharide fragments not small molecules. However I understand his point. I work in a flavors lab and regardless of what care you take there are always fumes of volatile flavor compounds floating arround in a gasseous state or solvents (I can’t avoid using some toxic solvents like methylene chloride, chloroform and some reagents that are quite nasty).
I always prefer to use more benign solvents like acetone, ethyl acetate, alkanes (hexane isooctane etc), ethanol.
When you mean I should start with one of the 3 broader engineering paths, are you recommending I get a bachelors in, for example, mechanical engineering, then get a masters in biomedical? Or do you mean to change your major from mechanical to biomedical during my bachelors? I’m not positive if I want biomedical or not however. I’m looking for en engineering job that is at the intersection between science and engineering.
Yes, exactly. The paths are different depending on which major you choose, but all of them can let you move into a biomedical graduate degree if you schedule your classes correctly.
Engineering is closely tied to physics, and going from engineering to science is not uncommon. You’ll have to choose classes in the direction you want to take, but it’s not uncommon by any means.
Just because your body makes a molecule doesn’t mean your immune system won’t ever attack it - if that were the case, autoimmune diseases would not exist. [Formaldehyde allergy](Formaldehyde - Wikipedia) is a real thing and it’s a molecule that’s fairly similar to acetone so an allergic reaction to acetone isn’t too outlandish an idea.
Autoimmune diseases attack proteins and other large molecules not identifiable as self. Not formaldehyde. Not acetone.