Learn about the types of people who become materials scientists. This page goes into detail about the employment, gender, and ethnic ratios of the workplace.


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Employment Type Mix, 2024

79% of materials scientists work in full-time roles while 21% work part-time.

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Gender Mix By Career Interest, 2024

This graph shows the distribution of females and males that are interested in becoming a materials scientist. Four or five star ratings on CareerExplorer indicate interest.

More men than women are interested in becoming materials scientists at a ratio of 2.58 to 1.

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Actual Gender Mix, 2024

46% of materials scientists are female and 54% are male.

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Gender Bias, 2024

This is one of the most compelling statistics we collect. Gender bias shows the difference between gender interest in being a materials scientist and the actual gender mix of people in the career.

If there is a significant difference, then it means there is a gender imbalance between those interested in becoming a materials scientist and those who end up becoming one.

In this case there are more men interested in becoming a materials scientist than those actually working as one. It is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why, but there are likely various forces at play, from changing interests over time to societal norms and biases.

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Ethnic Mix, 2019

The largest ethnic group of materials scientists are White, making up 52% of the population. The next highest segments are East Asian and South Asian, making up 17% and 12% respectively.