Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene

Types of Degrees Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many occupational health and industrial hygiene graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	117
Bachelor’s Degree	106
Graduate Certificate	24
Basic Certificate	10
Undergraduate Certificate	2
Doctor’s Degree	2

What Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, occupational health and industrial hygiene majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene Majors

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

• 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.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
• Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
• Chemistry - Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

Skills for Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene Majors

A major in occupational health and industrial hygiene prepares you for careers in which the following skill-sets are crucial:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• 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.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene Majors

As you progress with your occupational health and industrial hygiene degree, there are several abilities you should pick up that will help you in whatever related career you choose. These abilities include:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

What Can You Do With a Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with occupational health and industrial hygiene:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Health Specialties Professors	25.9%	$97,370
Occupational Health and Safety Specialists	8.1%	$73,020
Occupational Health and Safety Technicians	9.9%	$50,780

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene?

This major tends to be male dominated. About 75% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of occupational health and industrial hygiene majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	3
Black or African American	15
Hispanic or Latino	12
White	62
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	14

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene

Some careers associated with occupational health and industrial hygiene 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 occupational health and industrial hygiene have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
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)	2.6%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	6.4%
Bachelor’s Degree	49.8%
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.	4.9%
Master’s Degree	23.1%
Doctoral Degree	8.1%
Post-Doctoral Training	6.2%

Online Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene 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)	1	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	0	0
Bachelor’s Degree	9	2
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	14	2
Post-Master’s	2	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	4	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Occupational Health and Industrial Hygiene

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to occupational health and industrial hygiene.

Major	Number of Grads
General Public Health	25,558
Public Health Education and Promotion	4,112
Other Public Health	3,157
Health Services Administration	3,047
Community Health and Preventive Medicine	2,042
International Public Health/International Health	1,696
Environmental Health	1,439
Behavioral Aspects of Health	633
Maternal and Child Health	275
Health/Medical Physics	244
Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality	87

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 Article 25 Flickr under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.