5 High Paying STEM Careers

Contents

Engineer
Physician
Software Developer
Financial Manager
Physicist

You can pick among many high paying STEM careers. These fields are:

science
technology
engineering
mathematics

They’re some of the highest paying out there. The following are all excellent STEM careers that boast high salaries.

1. Engineer

At its most basic, the field of engineering is about building things. There are many different engineering specializations and they all pay well. Civil engineers design, build, maintain and repair various types of construction projects, for example. Electrical engineers build electric infrastructure that powers cities and industry. Mechanical engineers plan, build and test machines and other devices for a wide variety of industries. Engineers of all specializations continue to be the highest paying STEM careers. They also have very low unemployment rates.

2. Physician

Physicians continue to be the highest-paid professionals in the medical field. Physicians specializing in surgery or radiology tend to command the highest salaries. But nearly all medical doctors make six-figure salaries. Job expectations will be different depending on a physician’s specialization. For example, surgeons spend their careers performing surgery. General practitioners see patients for a number of ailments and recommend medications and procedures. Physicians must have excellent problem-solving ability and be good at interacting with patients. They may prescribe medications or educate patients about various health-related topics.

3. Software Developer

The world is hungry for better and improved software programs. Talented software developers are in demand. As far as system software and applications, software developers are responsible for:

designing
creating
maintaining
debugging

Software is developed for just about every niche and industry imaginable. Therefore, software developers need to have a good idea of the features their customers need and want. They also need to be innovative. There are two main kinds of software and developers usually specialize in one. There is systems software, which are the underlying operating systems used by computers and other devices. There’s applications software. These are the individual applications used on devices such as mobile apps or word processing programs. Developers can also work in specific fields such as video game development. This career pays an average of $103,560 per year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

4. Financial Manager

Financial managers are some of the highest paid employees in the mathematics field. They often reach this position after:

working as an accountant
earning an advanced degree
having other relevant work experience and successes

Financial managers include financial executives, such as CFOs, who may be in charge of all finances and financial departments at an organization. They are responsible for managing an organization’s finances and ensuring compliance with all relevant laws and regulations. They are usually involved in creating budgets. They also monitor income and expenses to ascertain the financial health of an organization.

5. Physicist

For non-healthcare-related science careers, physicists have very high salaries. Physics is the study of how matter and energy interact. Physicists may perform experiments in a lab or study theory. They may design experiments themselves and use equipment to test theories. They may also specialize in a particular topic such as astrophysics or theoretical physics. Many physicists may have to write proposals for funding their research. They also are often called upon to share their research in a presentation or in writing papers that may be published by scientific publications. Related Resource: 30 Great Small Colleges for STEM Degrees Students looking to earn a STEM degree and go into a STEM field have a multitude of options. These careers generally have: