Career Opportunities for Mathematics Majors
Recent graduates have chosen advanced study in a variety of selective graduate mathematics programs at schools like Dartmouth College, Emory University, University of Virginia, Washington University at St. Louis, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Several mathematics-economics majors have pursued advanced study in economics or finance at the University of Chicago, Yale University, the University of Georgia, and the University of Texas at Austin. Other recent majors are employed as teachers or work in a variety of industries including insurance, banking, computing, and investment management.
Careers of some graduates of Agnes Scott College with majors in mathematics.
Sample List of careers
Interview with Karen Shuman '95, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Grinnell College, about her research in mathematics and her time at Agnes Scott College, from the 2002 President's Report, "Science as a Liberal Art" (pdf file)
Profile of Hilary Parton '05, special assistant to the deputy commissioner in the Department of Epidemiology at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Hilary earned her master's in public health with a focus on epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Career Information
Be An ActuaryInformation about a career as an actuary, consistently rated as one of the best jobs in America.
Career and Employment Resources for Mathematics Students
A site from the Mathematical Association of America that has links for descriptions of careers in mathematics, advice for looking for a job, advice for looking for a graduate school, and other information.
The American Math Society and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics have constructed a great WWW resource on careers in mathematics. For example, visit the Mathematics Career Bulletin Board to learn about the careers of mathematicians in non-academic positions, or read about some actual applications used by mathematicians in their jobs.
In response to the question "What can I do with a math degree?" the American Math Society has launched the Early Career Profiles Network. This is a web resource on which mathematics departments systematically provide job profiles of their recent bachelors-degree alumni, highlighting where they work and how they got their job, how they use math on the job, their academic background, and their advice for students.
Thinking of a Career in Applied Mathematics? from SIAM is a good source of information and advice on how mathematicians work in industry.
The following brochures are available in the mathematics suite in Buttrick. Please feel free to look through any of these.
- Career Information in the Mathematical Sciences: A Resource Guide, published by the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences.
- Careers that Count: Opportunities in the Mathematical Sciences, published by the Association for Women in Mathematics. A series of profiles of women working in careers involving mathematics.
Plus Magazine has launched a careers section on its website, bringing you all you need to know about the wide range of careers that use mathematics--from avalanche research and planning the Olympics to designing computer games or saving lives in developing countries. The section gives you easy access to career profiles and in-depth career interviews, as well as advice from employers and useful information on how to enter a career with mathematics.
Sloan Career Cornerstone Center has information about careers in actuarial science, mathematics, and statistics.
