The line graph compares distribution of university graduates in Australia –all graduates and mathematics graduates–who engaged in full-time employment between 2004 and 2012, and the table compares average earnings of both graduates in the same timeframe.
Overall, math graduates earned higher salaries than other graduates for most of the years. The line graph shows a downward shift in the proportion of graduates working full-time. It is also noticeable that, despite some fluctuations, mathematics graduates ended up with the same percentage of full-time employment as they had at the beginning.
Looking at the details of employment, in 2004 around 80% of other graduates employed full-time, while math degreed students stood at about 65%. By 2006, other graduates had been surpassed by math graduates, and reached its peak of approximately 88%, which is more than other graduates with around 83%. From an apogee of about 88% in 2006, the figures for math students declined steadily to around 85% in 2008, whereas the percentage for other graduates became the same with math graduates during that period. After which, both saw a gradual decline in the percentage of full-time workers, in 2012 other graduates finished at around 79%, which was significantly higher than the 65% of math students.
In terms of wages, at the beginning in 2004 both of them made an average of $41,000 a year. This occasion happened in the next year as well, with both of them making $43,500 a year. However, in 2008 math graduates were earning more compared to other graduates, with $51,500 and $48,000 respectively. Then, in 2010, their salaries reversed, with math graduates earning $48,000 and other graduates earning slightly more, $52,000. Finally, by 2012, math graduates saw a considerable increase in their salaries $59,000, whereas other graduates’ salary increased by $1000.