Finding a Job: An Intersectional Analysis of Search Strategies and Outcomes Among U.S. STEM Graduates

Many STEM degree holders, especially women and minorities, are not employed in STEM occupations in the United States, and transitions into the STEM labor force among recent graduates have been declining since the 1980's. We examine transitions from school to work at two large U.S. universities in 2015-16, focusing on the internship experiences and job search strategies of graduating chemistry and chemical engineering majors. Surprisingly, 28% of our STEM respondents had no post-graduation plans, though women were significantly more likely than men to already have a job. Overall race differences in post-graduation plans were insignificant, though Black and Hispanic students were more likely to have no post-graduation plans compared to Whites and Asians. While Black, Hispanic, and LGBT students reported fewer job search behaviors overall, potentially explaining this pattern, no gender differences in job search behaviors or internship experiences emerged to explain women's employment advantage. However, better grades led to early job offers, reducing most of women's initial hiring advantage along with positive internship experiences, which did not alter men's likelihood of a job offer but were associated with a higher likelihood of a job offer among women.