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STS follows our students after graduation, and we have a good idea of their career development. We have a strong track record of success with employability. Recent statistics agree.
STS follows our students after graduation, and we have a good idea of their career development. With more than twenty years of graduates to follow, we think we have a strong track record of success, and recent statistics agree.
Most Recent Data
The most recent data on graduate outcomes and careers is provided by the UK government's website, DiscoverUni.gov.uk. This combines data from the National Student Survey, UCAS, and several other independent sources.
- Sociology and Politics of Science BSc (L391) via DiscoverUni.gov.uk
- History and Philosophy of Science BSc (V550) via DiscoverUni.gov.uk
(If these links fail to call up the right data, try this: search for the degree title and choose UCL as the university.)
For graduates from our BSc programmes:
Our most recent data is from students who graduated in 2016-17. It reported:
- 89% in study or work 15 months after graduation, and this is divided into groups:
45% choosing graduate-level work
44% choosing higher or other study - £33,000 median salary reported for full-time working graduates
- £33,000 average salary reported for full-time working graduates
(Source: UCL Tableau: Graduate Outcomes 2017-18)
Scan Alumni via LinkedIn
We're proud of our graduates and our track record helping them along. LinkedIn.com has an alumni feature, where people who identify their university degree also identify what they’ve done since. This provides excellent independent data on career profiles.
(If this link fails to reach the right destination, try this: got to UCL's page on LinkedIn, click the "Alumni" button, use the search tool to locate "sts" and "science and technology studies".)
Please read their data with a critical eye. The search phrases can call up a fair number of "false positives” (i.e., people who are associated with us accidentally by the search engine).
Previous data
In 2018, the UK government released detailed data for graduate outcomes and careers. This
STS BSc graduate level stats 2016-17 | Average |
| Graduate-Level Work, Post-Graduate Study or Both | 86.2% |
| In Graduate-Level Work | 84% |
| Median Salary Doctorate Master's taught Undergraduate | £34,000 £23,000 £25,000 |
Source: UCL's DLHE destinations statistics 2016-17 provided by UCL Careers Service |
Surprisingly, this median salary for STS graduates is higher than the median salary for the chemists, physicists, mathematicians, statisticians, and earth scientists all taken together in our faculty (£28,000, with 91% in work, study, or both).
Employment and Jobs after University
The majority of STS graduates choose either the world of work, or postgraduate studies, after their degree. They can be found in almost every sector of the economy; however, jobs taken up by our graduates over the past four years generally fall into one of four categories:
- management, business, and finance
- journalism, public relations, and marketing
- museums and archives
- civil service and professional services
This is based on data received from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey, which is a national survey of all universities undertaken by HESA.
- Job titles for STS graduates 2016-17 (most recent data)
Technology Consultant
Team Manager
Stage Doorkeeper
Secretary
Secondary School Teacher (History and English)
Sales and marketing support
Research Assistant
Project Manager
Project management
Project Coordinator
Patient Records Administrator
Partnerships Manager
Operations intern
Network support
HIV support worker
Front of house waitress
Freelance Consultant
Business and Technology Consultant
Assistant Professor
Assistant Account Executive
Account Executive
Academic Journal Editor
(from 2016-2017 DLHE surveys)
- Employers of STS graduates
University College London (UCL)
90TEN
Accenture
Anthony Nolan
CMA Surveyors Loss Adjusters Ltd
DigitalHealth.London Accelerator
Freelance Consultant
GlaxoSmithKline
Grayce
Green King
Herts Aid
International Boarding School Salem
Kalgera
Languagewire
Master of Malt
Real Science Communications
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Sciterion
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Synergy Healthcare Research
The Family Surgery
Villoid
Vision 2020
Womens Engineering Society
(from 2016-2017 DLHE surveys)
- Industry Sectors
Academic Research and HE
Health and Social Care
PR, Advertising, Marketing
IT, Technology & Telecomms
Manufacturing
Professional Services
Teaching or other educational activities
Accountancy & Financial Services
Consultancy
Engineering
Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism
Human Resources and Recruitment
Other
Social or Market Research
(from 2016-2017 DLHE surveys)
Source: UCL's DLHE destinations statistics 2016-17
provided by UCL Careers Service
More university: Postgraduate Degrees
Increasingly, our graduates decide on postgraduate study, such as a taught Master's degree. A few decide to continue in academic fields associated with History of Science, Philosophy of Science, and Sociology of Science. The majority choose postgradaute studies that provide accelerated professional training and qualification.
This is consistent with national trends. The UK Office for Students reported survey results in 2018 that saw “a clear upward trend in the percentage of students who intend to undertake postgraduate study”. The professional job market today is such that postgraduate degrees increasingly are expected as a baseline.
Many STS graduates choose postgraduate studies, such as a Masters, after their undergraduate degree. This is consistent with national trends, which are experiencing “a clear upward trend in the percentage of students who intend to undertake postgraduate study” according to UK Office for Students.
Many STS graduates choose postgraduate studies, such as a Masters, after their undergraduate degree. This is consistent with national trends, which are experiencing “a clear upward trend in the percentage of students who intend to undertake postgraduate study” according to UK Office for Students.
- Postgraduate Programmes chosen by STS graduates
International Development Masters
Medical Scientist Training Program MD/PhD
MSc Science, Technology and Society
PhD Fashion and Knowledge (1600-1800)
PhD History of Medicine
Science Communication
MSc Computer Science
MA Comparative Literature
MSc Global Governance and Ethics
MSc History and Philosophy of Science
MSc Medical Humanities
Philosophy Masters
(from 2012-2016 DLHE surveys)
Taking the Long View: Careers over Jobs
In the much wider frame, UK Department of Education publishes long term data on employment and earnings. It gives information about earnings five-ish years after graduation from a first degree. Their latest report was published in June 2017 (link). In that data, Our degrees counted as “Social Sciences” and “Historical and Philosophical Studies”. (Reading this data, the standard deviation bars are important. That’s 2/3rds of the data. The report also gives data on “sustained” employment.)