India: 8 courses that lead to high-paying jobs – report

12 Apr 2017

Students who take Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) courses look set to rake in the money once they enter the job market, according to Business Insider India (BI India).

Students from the South Asian country, especially graduate students who make up the bulk of the cohort to the US, have long preferred STEM courses.

And it seems to be a choice that will ultimately pay off, given the lucrative remuneration packages companies are giving to graduates from these fields.

“Generally, STEM courses stand as one of the highest-paying jobs worldwide,” international education consultancy The Chopras managing director Natasha Chopra said.

Here are eight popular courses and how much jobs in these areas will likely pay graduates, according to BI India.

Courses	Average Annual Salaries	Countries to work in
Finance	$55,000- $89, 160	UK, Australia, USA, Ireland, Hungary, Japan
Actuary	$65,000- $97,070	Australia, UK, New Zealand, US
Data Analytics	$50,000- 60,000	UK, USA, Ireland
Software Engineering & Development	$75,160- $98,260	UK, USA, Ireland
Computer Science & IT	$60,000- $90,120	UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Israel
Mechanical Engineering	$60,000- 70,000	UK, USA, Australia, Canada
Architects	$60,000- 70,000	UK, USA, Australia, UAE
Corporate Strategy	$68,982	USA, Australia,

Source: Business Insider India

STEM courses dominate BI India’s list, with average annual salaries ranging between US$50,000 and US$98,260. Software engineering and development fetches the highest possible annual salary if the graduate can land a job in the United Kingdom, United States or Ireland.

BI India’s list reflects a recent one by Glassdoor on the highest-paying jobs in the US, which found workers in healthcare and tech (fields that usually require STEM degrees) get paid the most.

A student tells his story about transition from India to America; how he's following his passion for coding: https://t.co/1rWerHltzk

— Katie DeFiore (@KatieDeFiore) February 5, 2016

A recent report titled Indian Students Mobility Report 2016 by MM Advisory Services, also found Indian students are heading abroad to study at a rate (17.8 percent) that surpasses even that of China’s in 2015.

Both Asian nations now dominate the international education scene – in US universities, students from these two countries make up 43 percent of the cohort, while in Australian institutions, they account for 40 percent.

And among this huge cohort of international students, a disproportionate number of Indian students is going into STEM courses.

69% of Indian girls pick STEM courses: Mastercard survey. We wish more of them would join the workforce.https://t.co/jotJeXxL27

— AnitaB.org India (@AnitaBorg_India) February 15, 2017

“Data from the Student Exchange & Visitor Programme indicates in 2016, 83 percent of Indian students (in the US) were enrolled in STEM programmes,” Rahul Choudaha told The Economic Times. Rahul is the co-founder of interEDGE, a US-based provider of career services to international students.

These students are heading to US universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Princeton University and University of Chicago. For those who plan to head across the pond, their top choices are the University of Cambridge, University College London (UCL), Imperial College London, and University of Oxford.

Chopra said the other top 10 universities among Indian students are University of Southern California, San Jose State University and Rochester Institute of Technology in the US. Australia’s Deakin University and Monash University, Britain’s Manchester University and University of Warwick, and Canada’s institutions Humber College, University of Toronto and York University are also popular.