Over time at the uboast blog, we are going to analyze the prospects for a different college major. We will base which jobs to pick, based on your requests (which can be put in the comments section and what we see within the uboast community):

This week's featured job is in biology and biologist.

America employs biologists working as biologists in research and teaching, but jobs depend on credentials.  Nearly 70 thousand work as Biology Technicians using BA degree credentials. Universities employ 30 percent of Biology Technicians to assist in their research laboratories and medical schools. A little over 37 percent work for firms doing research and development including testing laboratories and pharmaceutical companies. Another 20 percent work in government and health care employs a little over 5 percent of them.

Almost all Biology Technicians work under the supervision of someone with a doctorate or medical degree, or both. Medical scientists, Epidemiologists, Microbiologists and Biological Scientist jobs can be filled with biologists, but these jobs require a doctorate in biology.

The only other significant job for those with BA degree credentials in biology is Zoologist and Wildlife Biologist with 17.8 thousand jobs. Almost 60 percent of these jobs are in government since the federal government owns and manages so much of America's land and its wildlife. Otherwise jobs are in firms doing research in animal behavior and habitat, or teaching.

Job growth for Biology Technicians averaged 3,921 a year from 2000 at a rate much higher than the national average for all jobs. Job growth for Zoologist and Wildlife Biologist averaged 874 a year and at a rate above the national average for all jobs.

Job growth is not as good a measure of new hiring as job openings. Job openings are job growth and the number of net replacements. Net replacements are people who permanently leave an occupation for another occupation or retirement and must be replaced before there can any job growth.

Job openings for Biology Technicians are forecast to be 2,474 a year for the next several years. Job openings for Zoologist and Wildlife Biologist are forecast to be 781 a year.

New BA degrees in biological and biomedical sciences total 69,178 in the year ending June 2006, which is up from 60,256 in 2001. Biology degrees continue to be about 4.6 to 4.7 percent of annual BA degrees.

Openings for the two occupations using BA degree skills are small compared to thousands of BA degrees. Actually openings 3,255 minus 69,178 BA degrees yield a tremendous surplus, but before we jump to conclusions we need to look at other opportunities to use biology degree skills.

First, many with BA degrees in Biology go on to graduate school where 8,681 received masters degrees and 5,775 received doctorates in the year ending June 2006. Both the MA and Doctorate degree totals are growing. The masters degree in biology is up from 6,205 in the year ending June 2002; the doctorate is up from 4,489. Advanced degrees open doors for college teaching where over 52 thousand teach college biology. Advanced degrees open opportunities for job openings in microbiology, biological science research, and medical research. Annual openings are estimated at 5,900 a year.

Otherwise teaching biology in middle schools and high schools in public and private school systems is the biggest source of jobs in biology. Based on current data from the National Center for Education Statistics 110 thousand teach natural science in high schools. If biology is one of four core natural science subjects that implies 27.5 thousand teach biology courses in the United States high schools.

Secondary school teaching is one of America's largest professional jobs with just over a million jobs and growth average nearly 18 thousand a year since 2000. Openings are expected to be around 33 thousand a year for the next 5 years.

As of the 2007 Bureau of Labor Statistics survey the entry wage in secondary school teaching are $39,780. The median wage is $49,420 and the 90^th percentile wages is $78,100. The 90^th percentile wage reflects years of experience and probably additional credits in biology or a masters degree in education or biology. Wages are keeping up with inflation.

The entry wage for Biology Technicians is $29,950. The median wage is $37,810, and the 90^th percentile wage is $60,770. Wage increases for Biology Technicians have been rising at the same rate of inflation but little more.

Wage for Zoologist and Wildlife Biologists have been rising a little faster than inflation. Entry wages for Zoologist and Wildlife Biologists are $43,160. The median wage is $55,100, and the 90^th percentile wage is $89,690.

Jobs using BA degree skills in biology are small relative to the number of annual graduates. At the current level of openings and new graduates, those with biology skills should be ready to teach, which means biology majors should also fulfill their state's teaching certification requirements. Otherwise graduate work or patience are the best advice for those who want to work in jobs using biology.

- Fred Siegmund is a regional market forecaster who has served as an independent contractor for the Department of Labor and has been writing for the Washington DC metropolitan area in the Department of Employment Services