SPECIALIZATIONS

For more information about career opportunities in each specialization, use the following links:

EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS

MASTER'S DEGREE

For full employment statistics and survey methodology, click on the 2021 Employment Report in the sidebar.

DOCTORAL DEGREE

Highlights from a recent survey of 40 PhD graduates include:

  • 92.5% of respondents are employed
  • 53% of respondents had a job upon graduation
  • 29% of respondents work as postdoctoral fellows, and 29% work as tenure-track faculty

COMMON SECTORS OF EMPLOYMENT

Management Consulting
Management Consultants provide advice to business leaders about their company’s most challenging issues. Many management consultants start out as generalist consultants before moving to a specialized field, such as corporate sustainability. As more companies commit to sustainable solutions, SEAS’s graduates interested in management consulting should be met with many opportunities.

Government
Graduates who wish to work in the government sector can choose to work for Federal, State, or Local governments. Any sphere of government offers a huge array of job variety, and requires employees with all types of backgrounds to meet its goals. Analytical ability, exposure to policymaking, leadership skills, and engineering are all being used to tackle the environmental issues on governments’ agendas.

Private Firms and Business
Many of our students are hired by businesses and firms all around the world, taking on projects that range from the planning and design of new parks and neighborhoods to developing planning documents and management plans for national parks, watersheds, and sensitive areas.  Visual and verbal communication skills, design and engineering, collaboration skills and team leadership skills are among the abilities our graduates take into these positions, allowing them to participate in creating sustainable, meaningful, equitable and responsible places, policies and outcomes.

Nonprofit
Nonprofits and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) work for the benefit of the public. These organizations’ missions revolve around a specific cause, such as environmental conservation or environmental justice in a certain community. Nonprofit work is challenging but rewarding, as the group unites around a common goal. Nonprofits can be found all over the U.S. and around the world.

International Development

International Development professionals work to improve human quality of life in developing countries in the fields of healthcare, education, infrastructure, and the environment. Students interested in international development will benefit greatly from SEAS's interdisciplinary focus and diverse student body.

For career guidance and more information about each sector, please visit our Google Site.

For general questions, please email us at seas-careers@umich.edu.