Engineering is the Degree of Choice for the Globe’s Richest

If you dream of a money making career which can take you places then according to the results of a Forbes List study conducted by Approved Index, (a United Kingdom based business to business platform) engineering is a sure-fire way of moving up in the world and making the big bucks.

Forbes is an American business magazine which releases the latest rankings of America’s and the world’s super-rich annually. A spot on the Forbes list is much coveted and treated like the Holy Grail amongst cashed-up, business heavy-weights as it is a major boon for business. Being listed in Forbes affords great prestige and enhances the reputation of not only the person, but their company, as well as giving their business immeasurable exposure leading to greater business and networking opportunities, thus handing them more market power to wield.

Forbes List Most Popular University Degrees Amongst Billionaires

On March 2^nd, Forbes published “The World’s Top 100 Billionaires 2015” list and as the Approved Index study concluded, engineering was the most popular degree amongst these 100 billionaires with 22% having studied engineering at university. 

Now one would think that a Business degree would be more popular amongst CEO’s, entrepreneurs and other such business king-pins, but as it turns out, out of the Top 100:

•        12% only, hold a Business degree
•        9% hold an Arts degree
•        6% hold a Maths, Sciences, or Law degree

So what does this study tell us aside from degree statistics? Well, it tells us that successfully completing tertiary study does not automatically translate to taking home hefty pay packets.

32% of the Top 100 business tycoons don’t hold a degree at all.

It is well known that many of the Top 100 players such as Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft’s Bill Gates and more dropped out of university before completing their studies and still went on to found hugely successful multinational companies. Gates, this year, has moved back up to take out the number one spot with a net fortune of $101 billion. Australia’s Gina Rinehart, our only billionaire came in at number 94 with a net fortune of $12.3 billion.

International Women’s Day and the Under-representation of women in STEM fields

March 8 is International Women’s Day, and despite pushes to get more girls to study Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics subjects, women are still underrepresented in the engineering industry. This week we are celebrating women in engineering, and will discuss common challenges they face and how some have found ways to overcome them...

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Engineers must step up as thought leaders

With the Australian Engineering Conference 2016 coming up next month, Alan Finkel kick starts this year’s discussion with his vision for the future of the profession.