First-Destination Outcomes for 2015-2018 Public Health Graduates: Focus on Employment

• Published in: American journal of public health (1971) Vol. 111; no. 3; pp. 475 - 484
• Main Authors: Plepys, Christine M, Krasna, Heather, Leider, Jonathon P, Burke, Emily M, Blakely, Craig H, Magaña, Laura
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Public Health Association 01.03.2021
• Subjects: Academic degrees; Chi-square test; Companies; Continuing education; Councils; Curricula; Datasets; Education; Education, Graduate - statistics & numerical data; Education, Public Health Professional - statistics & numerical data; Employment; Employment - statistics & numerical data; Health Education; Health Education - statistics & numerical data; Health Policy; Health Professionals; Health Workforce - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Internships; Nonprofit organizations; Public health; Public Health Workers; Research & Analysis; Scholarships & fellowships; Statistical analysis; Statistical tests; Statistics; Students; Surveys; Work; Workforce; United States > US
• ISSN: 0090-0036; 1541-0048
• DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.306038

To improve understanding of the future public health workforce by analyzing first-destination employment outcomes of public health graduates. We assessed graduate outcomes for those graduating in 2015-2018 using descriptive statistics and the Pearson χ test. In our analysis of data on 53 463 graduates, we found that 73% were employed; 15% enrolled in further education; 5% entered a fellowship, internship, residency, volunteer, or service program; and 6% were not employed. Employed graduates went to work in health care (27%), corporations (24%), academia (19%), government (17%), nonprofit (12%), and other sectors (1%). In 2018, 9% of bachelor's, 4% of master's, and 2% of doctoral graduates were not employed but seeking employment. Today's public health graduates are successful in finding employment in various sectors. This new workforce may expand public health's reach and lead to healthier communities overall. With predicted shortages in the governmental public health workforce and expanding hiring because of COVID-19, policymakers need to work to ensure the supply of public health graduates meets the demands of the workforce.