Jobs for the Major
How this major affects a job search
If you're looking for a job in construction or as a professional artist...why, we're baffled as to why you are still reading.
If you're studying plant science, it's pretty easy to determine what sort of job you'll have when you graduate. There's some variability when it comes to what sorts of plants you'll be working with, but for the most part, that's it: plants. Granted, you can specialize in their relationships with animals or the environment, but it's going to involve plants. Have we said plants enough yet? Plants.
One of the major advantages this major has over some others is that it's specialized, meaning when you've got your degree, people will know that you really do understand the principles involved in the sciences pertaining to vegetation. This'll give you a serious advantage over any applicants that studied biology or chemistry; even though they'll know that side of things, you'll have a much more in-depth understanding.
Your ability to look at the bigger picture will come in handy. For example, a chemistry major might notice that there's a chemical imbalance in a sickly plant, but you would be more able to say that the chemical imbalance isn't the issue, because the invasive species that's pushing it out of its territory is a more likely reason the plant is dying. What a rude species.
Common Career Fields
Agroecology: This'll bring together plants and all the "other stuff" that might affect plants, which typically means ecological factors, like animals and soil. This field can either be specialized, in that you study a specific function of a particular plant within a system, or it can be a bit broader, like studying how any plants can survive in harsh weather. In these classes, you can look as close or as far away from an issue as you'd like...assuming that you can get the position in the first place.
Biotechnology: The connection between plants and technology has been documented for about as long as documenting itself. The use of plants to make our lives easier extends from making medicine to creating structures that help us in our daily lives. A great example is cotton, which many people wear every day. These days, a lot of this realm focuses on environmental issues, like creating decomposable nets for use in the ocean as an alternative to plastics. Plastic + sea life = sad Shmooper.
Breeding: Many of the plants we see and use today weren't around a couple hundred years ago. Through the study of genetics, we've learned different ways of breeding new plants. By understanding the possibilities that can be unlocked through inheritance, new species are being created all the time in order to resist disease and other negative effects. This probably isn't news to you, but if we were heard spouting this stuff a few hundred years ago, we might be roasting on a stake.
Food Science: Our favorite thing about plants is that you can eat some of them. Hopefully, that doesn't come as a shock to you. From salad to grapes to good ol' celery, there are many different types of edible plants. The food scientists of the world put their noggins together to figure out how to make that food better and more plentiful. Things like cloning food and genetically modifying it are big issues that people are arguing about.
Golf: This one sounds kind of weird, right? That's okay, it's supposed to. The thought of old, rich guys whacking a tiny ball all over a giant field has never quite made sense to us, either.
Oh, you mean why would you work in golf? Well, like we said, when you look at a golf course, you see vast amounts of green...and some grass, too. That's because grass is a huge part of golf. The quality of the grass is essential to any major golf course, so you could score a nice paying gig being in charge of making sure the business executives and other hot shots aren't chipping into patches of dirt.
Nurseries and Floriculture: Those who hop into this field will find themselves working in the Goldilocks-sized areas...they won't be super small (like under a microscope in a lab) or super large (like an entire golf course). Instead of these extremes, you can expect to work with flowers in greenhouses or growing trees in a nursery. If you're lucky enough, you could find yourself going to work every day in a botanical garden, which sounds a lot nicer than trudging to work at a cubicle all day.
Research: This broad field can be narrowed down easily by deciding what you're interested in knowing more about. You could research different techniques for growing plants in the desert, or developing innovations in the way we get rice to grow. Doing research will allow you to be at the helm of new technology; you could potentially be on a project that helps bring food to those in need. Not too shabby, eh?
Current unemployment of the major
4.0%Percentage of majors who get a higher degree after college
25%Stats obtained from this source.