The given charts compare areas of specialization among Canadians aged 25 to 35 and 45 to 55. Overall, Social Science and Arts constituted the predominant field in both cohorts, while there were notable differences in other areas of study. Interestingly, natural science subjects were more popular among younger adults, while Engineering claimed a higher proportion among older graduates.
Focusing on the 25-35-year-olds, over half a million of them were in possession of a degree. Breaking that number down, the top three most prominent fields of study were Social Science and Arts, Administration, and Natural Science, accounting for 20%, 19% and 18% of graduates respectively. Following that was Education, being only 3% behind third place. Engineering placed lower, with under one tenth of all alumni. Lesser represented fields included Nursing (7%), MBA (6%), Humanities (4%), and others not specified (2%).
Turning to the older group, the number of graduates was only a half of their younger counterparts. Of those, while the proportion of Social Science degree holders did not observe much change from that of people aged 25-35, Engineering registered a marked increase to 19%, becoming the second most popular area. Education, Administration, and Natural Science, on the other hand, dropped by 2% to 8% compared to the younger adults. Nursing also experienced an uptick by 4%, while the remaining subjects remained the smallest portion at roughly 11% total.
