Education and Career Success

Introduction

• Goal: This project explores how educational achievements, soft skills, and internships influence career success indicators like starting salary, promotions, and job satisfaction. .
• Why it matters: Students and career planners often ask—does higher GPA or field of study actually affect starting salary or job satisfaction?
• Target Audience:
  • Students planning their careers, University advisors
  • General public interested in education and jobs
• Key variables: GPA, Field of Study, Internship, Starting Salary, Job Level, Job Satisfaction, Gender.
• Data cleaned for missing values, inconsistent categories, and renamed for clarity.

Distribution of Starting Salaries

• The distribution is slightly right-skewed. Most graduates earn starting salaries between $40,000 and $60,000, with a slight right skew due to a few higher earners. This suggests that while top salaries are possible, they are less common and may be linked to specific factors like field of study, GPA, or internships.

Starting Salary by Gender

• On average, male graduates earn slightly higher starting salaries than female graduates. This gap raises questions about underlying factors such as field of study, negotiation practices, or systemic biases, which are explored further in this analysis.

GPA vs Salary

• The plot reveals a positive correlation between GPA and starting salary—graduates with higher GPAs tend to earn more initially. While the trend is not strong, it suggests academic performance may contribute to better job offers.

Field of Study vs Job Level

• The chart shows that fields like Engineering and Business are more likely to lead to higher early-career job levels, while others cluster more in entry-level roles. This reflects varying industry pathways and opportunities.

Internship and Career Success

• Graduates who completed more internships tend to earn higher starting salaries, suggesting that practical experience gained during studies enhances employability and compensation.

Key Findings

• University GPA has a positive correlation with starting salary, suggesting academic performance plays a role in career outcomes.
• Internship experience is associated with higher starting salaries and quicker promotions, emphasizing the importance of practical exposure.
• Field of Study influences early job level attainment—e.g., Engineering and Business often lead to Mid/Senior roles faster.
• Gender disparities in starting salary persist, warranting further investigation and institutional reflection.
• Soft skills and networking scores also contribute meaningfully to career satisfaction, highlighting the non-academic dimensions of success.

Conclusion

This analysis confirms that multiple educational and experiential factors shape early career outcomes. Higher university GPA and internship experience consistently correlate with higher starting salaries and faster promotions. Additionally, certain fields of study offer clearer paths to senior roles, while soft skills and networking abilities significantly enhance job satisfaction. However, observed gender-based salary gaps suggest systemic issues that require deeper institutional analysis. These insights are valuable for students, educators, and employers striving to align educational pathways with meaningful career success.

References

• Dataset: [Kaggle - Education and Career Success]
  (https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/adilshamim8/education-and-career-success)