Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing

Types of Degrees Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many professional, technical, business, & scientific writing graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Basic Certificate	1,531
Bachelor’s Degree	677
Master’s Degree	377
Graduate Certificate	201
Undergraduate Certificate	30
Doctor’s Degree	28
Associate Degree	19

What Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to professional, technical, business, and scientific writing were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Communications and Media - Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
• Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Skills for Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing Majors

When studying professional, technical, business, and scientific writing, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Abilities for Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing Majors

A major in professional, technical, business, and scientific writing will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

What Can You Do With a Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with professional, technical, business, and scientific writing:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Copy Writers	7.6%	$62,170
English Language and Literature Professors	9.8%	$66,590
Professors	9.4%	$65,660
Technical Writers	10.9%	$71,850

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing?

This major is dominated by women with about 72% of recent graduates being female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of professional, technical, business, and scientific writing majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	28
Black or African American	38
Hispanic or Latino	82
White	470
International Students	7
Other Races/Ethnicities	52

Geographic Diversity

Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing appeals to people across the globe. About 1.0% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing

Some careers associated with professional, technical, business, and scientific writing require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to professional, technical, business, and scientific writing have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	3.1%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	1.7%
Some College Courses	7.7%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	10.6%
Bachelor’s Degree	42.1%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	1.0%
Master’s Degree	15.0%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.7%
Doctoral Degree	19.2%
Post-Doctoral Training	0.1%

Online Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	12	3
Certificate (2-4 Years)	1	0
Associate’s Degree	9	4
Bachelor’s Degree	51	17
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	39	13
Post-Master’s	6	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	7	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to professional, technical, business, and scientific writing.

Major	Number of Grads
Creative Writing	7,483
Rhetoric & Composition	1,511
General Writing	742
Other Rhetoric & Composition/Writing Studies	577

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By KOKUYO under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.