Why major in
Mathematics?
(Thanks to Dartmouth University and Duke University,
from whom we have pilfered liberally.)
- You like it and/or you're good at it. Do you really need another
reason? If you need a little more convincing, read on.
- Professional
graduate schools (business, law, medicine) think it's a great
major because they realize that studying mathematics develops
analytical skills and the ability to work in a problem solving
environment; these are skills and experience which rank high on their
list of assets. Their entrance tests
support this bias. A study of college students' scores on admission
tests for graduate and professional schools showed that students
majoring in mathematics received scores substantially higher than the
average on each of the tests studied. The study, by the National
Institute of Education, compared the scores of 550,000 college students
who took the LSAT and GMAT with data collected over the previous
eighteen years. The table below excerpts some of these data
from The Chronicle of Higher
Education. The entries show the percentage
by which the mean score of test takers
from specific undergraduate majors differs from the mean score of all
test takers.
Major
|
LSAT
|
GMAT
|
Mathematics
|
+12.8%
|
+13.3%
|
Arts and Music
|
-0.05%
|
-1.2%
|
Biology
|
+4.0%
|
+3.3%
|
Business
|
-4.5%
|
-0.8%
|
Chemistry
|
+7.6%
|
+7.5%
|
Economics
|
+9.6%
|
+7.3%
|
Education
|
-8.7%
|
-4.2%
|
English
|
+5.6%
|
+4.1%
|
Foreign Languages
|
+5.7%
|
+3.3%
|
History
|
+2.9%
|
+4.6%
|
Philosophy
|
+8.7%
|
+11.0%
|
Political Science
|
-1.6%
|
+0.06%
|
Psychology
|
+0.9%
|
+0.8%
|
Sociology
|
-7.0%
|
-5.0%
|
- Salaries.
For those
of you
who wish to take your undergraduate degree directly to the job market
after graduation, the chart below, extracted from the National
Association of Colleges and Employers
2005 salary survey, provides a comparison of average starting salaries
for students by undergraduate major.
Major
|
Salary Differential
(compared to English major)
|
Mathematics
|
+37.7%
|
Biology
|
+0.8%
|
Chemistry
|
+22.8%
|
Economics
|
+33.5%
|
English
|
0%
|
Foreign Languages
|
+5.1%
|
History
|
+0.9%
|
Political Science
|
+4.9%
|
Psychology
|
-4.4%
|
Sociology
|
-0.3%
|
- Job
Satisfaction. In
addition to
higher pay, a math major's employment promises higher levels of job
satisfaction. In The Jobs
Rated Almanac (1999
edition),
Les Krantz ranks 250 jobs according to six criteria: income, stress,
physical demands, potential growth, job security and work
environment. Mathematician ranks 5th out of 250.
Moreover,
the jobs rated higher than mathematician, such as Actuary, also involve
significant mathematical reasoning and knowledge and therefore are
likely filled by math majors also.
Job
|
Satisfaction
Rating
|
Actuary
|
2
|
Mathematician
|
5
|
Biologist
|
23
|
Physicist
|
42
|
Mechanical Engineer
|
45
|
Economist
|
50
|
Electrical Engineer
|
54
|
Attorney
|
60
|
Chemist
|
64
|
Computer Consultant
|
81
|
General Practice Physician
|
82
|
Dentist
|
86
|
Senior Corporate Executive
|
95
|
Stockbroker
|
124
|
Surgeon
|
135
|
- Employers also value skills and abilities developed as a result
of the training to be a mathematics major. For example, as part of the
Georgia University System Board of Regents survey, "Business Conditions
and Higher Education in Georgia, 1998 Survey Report," business leaders
were asked what three qualities they most valued in their employees.
Oral communications (77%) and critical thinking skills (74%) were
considered most important. The ability to work in teams (49%) and
written communication (41%) were frequently cited. Computer skills
(34%) and quantitative skills (23%) were less likely to be named.
- Jobs in the private sector abound: Whether you're interested in
developing models and interpreting their results, or are interested in
developing efficient algorithms to expedite known processes,
mathematics and computer science are the tools of choice.
- Modeling: Models are
needed to investigate air flow across the surface
of aircraft wings, chemical and biological processes, astronomical
trajectories and urban development. These models need to be designed,
created, the data from them collected and analyzed, conclusions drawn
and predictions made from them.
- Finance: Wall Street has become a
major employer of math majors. Trying to
match the outstanding success of multibillionaire Differential
Geometer, James
Simons (founder of the Renaissance
Technologies
Corporation and the top hedge fund, the Medallion Fund),
many investment and financial firms consider mathematicians prized
hires.
- Cryptography and Security: One area
that is particularly "hot" these days is cryptography -
the making and breaking of secret codes. Not only the CIA, NSA,
and
other
spy agencies are
devotees. Numerous businesses also require
cryptography.
For example, the cable TV companies encode their signals, forcing the
viewer to rent their decoding devices in order to turn
the signals back into a television picture. Banks
also employ cryptography in order to protect the
privacy and integrity of their transactions. Number theory is the
branch of pure
mathematics which provides the theoretical underpinnings
for much of the recent progress in cryptography.
- Biotech:
Recent breakthroughs in the study of DNA and proteins have
generated a great deal of
interest in mathematical
biology. Many
biotech companies hire mathematics majors because of the high (and
growing) mathematical content of the field.
- Where Mathematics Meets Computer Science:
The computer industry provides many lucrative jobs for math
majors. Beyond mere proficiency in computer programming,
math majors are trained to address the more fundamental issues involved
in
the creation of new algorithms. Furthermore,
many sophisticated applications of computers such as creation of
computer graphics and the compression of video and audio
signals (to name a few
examples) involve a great deal of deep mathematics, and, as a result,
many
computer companies specifically hire math majors.
- An academic career, whether in grades K-12 or at the college
level, can be an exciting and interactive environment. The opportunity
to pursue your own research projects is often not available in the
private sector, and is a very important consideration in your choice of
career.
For more information about nonacademic careers in mathematics
please visit our Careers
with a Mathematics Major page, or the American Math Society's
Mathematical
Sciences Career Website.