What jobs look for employees with a strong background in math? Would it surprise you to know that almost all careers require basic math skills? Mathematical competence is an essential, yet regularly overlooked skill. Math is directly associated with comprehensive cognitive abilities, demonstrating a high level of critical thinking and problem-solving ability in a person.
So why is it that having a basic understanding of math so overlooked?
While it is true that there is a lot that is taught in schools, (like trigonometry and calculus), that will not be relevant for the majority of the population entering the workforce, basic numeracy is essential in most careers. Numeracy is the understanding of number and operation sense, as well as geometry, computation, measurement, and probability and simple statistics. Below is an alphabetical list of just a few careers that require, if not benefit greatly from, basic numeracy:
This list, although fairly long, is incomplete and does not cover every career that benefits from having math skills. Other careers that benefit from having a strong math foundation include jobs in education, cryptography, programming, graphic design, etc. So, regardless of whether you are passionate about pursuing a career as a high school math teacher ($82k/yr.) or a psychometrician ($200k/yr.), a strong math foundation will benefit you greatly!