Workers in highest-paying jobs mostly men

Despite the low pay, education is the third most common field of study for graduates from Oklahoma’s four-year public universities. Data from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education shows 17,174 bachelor’s degrees were conferred in 2015-16.

Of the total, 1,268 were degrees in education. Most of them (1,022) went to females, with males earning 246.

So what two disciplines top the list of most degrees conferred?

Business management and administration was No. 1 with 3,505 degrees conferred in 2015-16. Unlike education, the gender breakdown was nearly even. Males earned 1,811 of those degrees and females 1,694.

The second highest number of bachelor’s degrees were in health professions, another filed dominated by women. Of 1,486 degrees conferred, females earned 1,285 and males earned 201.

This is the only field dominated by women that pays one of the highest salaries five years out from graduation. Regents data shows the median annual income for 2009-10 bachelor degree-holders after five years was $49,888.

That’s the fifth highest-paying field of study in the report. The category of health professionals includes a wide range of careers from high-level to lower-paying jobs, regents’ data expert Tony Hutchison said.

So what bachelor’s degree commands the highest salary after five years?

Engineering graduates earn a median salary of $75,182 five years into their careers, followed by those with degrees in engineering technologies at $60,192 and computer sciences at $55,416.

All three are male-dominated fields. Engineering was the fifth most common degree conferred by Oklahoma institutions in 2015-16 with 997. Men earned 788 of those degrees and women 209.

Engineering technology degrees totaled 516, with men earning 440 and women 76.

In the field of computer sciences, bachelor’s degrees went to 350 males and 75 females for a total of 425.

The fourth most common degree conferred in 2015-16 was in liberal arts/general studies, with 1,095. The breakdown was 627 females to 468 males.

The fourth highest paying field of study five years out was physical sciences, with a median annual income of $50,056. Who earned those degrees? A total of 276 graduates — 175 men and 101 women.

Five years down the road, 77 percent of those who earned a bachelor's degree in 2009-10 were employed in the state, Hutchison said.

The median annual earnings for all bachelor's degree-holders shows a "pretty steady climb in the state salaries over first five years," Hutchison said. It rose from $28,836 one year after graduation to $41,460 five years after.