Careers

A bachelor's degree in mathematics will help you lay the groundwork for your future in business, education, engineering, government service, science, or virtually any career. As a mathematics major at CSUMB, the faculty will guide you on a journey into a deep understanding of mathematics. Your mathematical knowledge will allow you to take a problem, abstract its essential features, and provide a framework for finding the best possible solution. This ability will assist you in such fields as economics, law, medicine, graphic arts, and journalism, as well as in the more traditional activities of research and teaching. The career pathway for a mathematics major typically falls into three categories: graduate school, teaching, and industry which includes working for the government.

Graduate School
Continue to pursue mathematics formally by enrolling in graduate school and becoming a mathematician. Teach at a college or university, become a part of a private think tank, or work for one of many engineering and cryptographic companies or a government agency. You could become one of the many people making new and amazing discoveries every year. Click on the following links for more information.

Assistantships and Graduate Fellowships ~ The AMS guide to graduate programs
Guide to Masters Programs provides information about master's degree programs in the mathematical sciences.
Mathematical Sciences Graduate Programs in the U.S.
Current Employment Trends in the Mathematical Sciences ~ An article for mathematics majors who are considering graduate school (locate it at the beginning of the book)
NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
The National Physical Science Consortium offers graduate fellowships in the physical sciences, with special emphasis toward the recruitment of underrepresented minority and female physical science and engineering students.
The Department of Homeland Security has initiated an undergraduate and graduate fellowship program in science and technology.
PhDs.org ~ Science, Mathematics and Engineering Career Resources contains advice and data about graduate programs in mathematics.

Teaching
Teach mathematics at the secondary school level. Mathematics teachers are in very high demand around the world, and especially in California. Click on the following links for more information.

Industry
Mathematics majors are valuable commodities in the workplace because employers know that the mathematics degree requires critical, creative, and logical thinking. Many engineering, biotech, actuarial, and computer companies need employees with mathematical knowledge, and many more want employees who know how to think and solve problems. Click on the following links for more information.

Mathematics also serves as a good background for many other fields. Some mathematics majors end up becoming physicists, chemists, biologists, engineers, computer scientists, linguists, lawyers, doctors, and managers. Employers in these fields view a background in mathematics as highly desirable, and mathematics graduates often do very well in these professions. A study of college students' scores on admission tests for graduate and professional schools showed that students majoring in mathematics received scores substantially higher than the average on each of the tests studied. The study, by the National Institute of Education, compared the scores of 550,000 college students who took the LSAT and GMAT with data collected over the previous eighteen years. Note that you may have to take a substantial number of additional classes beyond the mathematics major in order to fulfill the requirments for entrance into a professional school outside of mathematics. For example, a typical medical school requires 2 years of chemistry, 1.5 years of biology, and a year of physics. Click on the following links for more information.