Careers advisers at universities
Perhaps more than most groups, maths undergraduates will probably have a good idea of what they intend to do once they finish university. For some, a maths degree is simply the first step on the path to becoming a researcher or lecturer, or perhaps a teacher. Many others are looking to go into financial services or related occupations where a maths degree is essential as a prerequisite to further professional qualifications. For yet others, however, a maths degree is simply the end of a chain of educational decisions based more on aptitude and enjoyment than any real career plan.
For these people, the prospect of finally leaving academia and settling into employment can be extremely daunting as they may well never have given much thought to what lay beyond university. But given sufficient advice about the possible careers open to them, they will find that a maths degree will suit almost any kind of work they might consider, whether it involves using their specific mathematical knowledge, or simply the skills they will have developed along the way, the ability to think rationally and to process data clearly and accurately, and also a competent and confident numeracy—something quite often lacking, even among university graduates.
Earning power
A wide range of career options also means a chance to earn more money: a recent study, conducted by economists at the University of Swansea, showed that maths and computing degrees make the biggest difference to lifetime earnings. On average, a graduate of any degree can expect to earn £149,760 more in his or her lifetime than a person leaving education with two A levels. For maths and computing graduates, this figure rises to over £200,000!
And those that are really committed can achieve salaries far above the average: a look at job adverts from the finance sector shows figures between 40K and 150K offered to people with a maths background and a few years experience.
What do mathematicians do?
Mathematics is the language of the universe, as Galileo Galilei said, and today this fact is more apparent than ever. This is partly due to the rise of computers, which require everything, be it search engines, games, accountancy software or music, to be put into the language of maths. Equally important is the fact that many of the things that are essential to us as a society — research and development, policy decisions in the private or public sector, economical forecasts — are increasingly required to be based on hard, verifiable evidence. And it takes a mathematician to capture the essence of problems, solve them, design experiments and interpret them, and to assemble statistics. Thus, mathematically able people are required in almost every aspect of modern life.
On this website, you will find a wide range of information on what mathematicians do and what maths is used for. As the site grows, more information on employers of mathematicians will become available. The links below might be of particular interest to you:
Useful sections of this website
Career profiles - link to the Post 16 section
The Post 16 section of this website has a page carrying career profiles and case studies, as well as links to other websites who feature similar information.
Finding a job - link to the Undergraduate section
The undergraduate section of this website contains useful information about job hunting.
What's in a maths-based degree - link to the Post 16 section
This part of the Post 16 section explains which subjects are taught in a typical maths degree, and what they are used for in real life.
Why take a maths-based degree - link to the Post 16 section
Also in the Post 16 section, you will find a page giving a rough overview of the career paths open to maths and stats graduates.
