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STEM Compass · everyone

How to choose a STEM field

Start with what you love to do, then how you work, then what you want your work to change. That is the order of the assessment, and it is the order that holds up ten years later. Each STEM field has a trait signature. Software runs on persistence and abstraction; health on empathy and composure; research on patience and inquiry; engineering on practicality and spatial reasoning.

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Take the STEM Compass assessmentSee the STEM Farm tracks

What the assessment measures

280 items in five modules — what you love to do, how you work, fifteen STEM working traits, thirty real situations, and where you want your work to land — matched against forty careers in eight families. Then a sixth module drafts your mission, vision and values in your own words. Progress saves as you go; it is free and complete today.

Careers this covers

Software & Technology — Build the digital world people live inside.

Software Developer+15%Web Developer+7%Computer Programmer-6%Computer Systems Analyst+9%Database Administrator+4%Database Architect+4%Computer & Information Research Scientist+20%

Data Science & Statistics — Find the truth hiding in the numbers.

Data Scientist+34%Statistician+8%

Engineering — Design and build what has to work.

Aerospace Engineer+6%Chemical Engineer+3%Civil Engineer+5%Electrical Engineer+7%Environmental Engineer+4%Industrial Engineer+11%Marine Engineer & Naval Architect+6%Mechanical Engineer+9%

Healthcare & Life Sciences — Keep people alive, well, and cared for.

Biomedical Engineer+6%Registered Nurse+5%Physician Assistant+20%Physician & Surgeon+4%Clinical Laboratory Technologist+4%Medical Scientist+9%Epidemiologist+16%Microbiologist+5%

Physical Sciences & Research — Ask how the universe works, then prove it.

Biochemist & Biophysicist+7%Physicist+4%Astronomer+4%Chemist & Materials Scientist+6%

Mathematics & Analytics — Turn uncertainty into decisions.

Operations Research Analyst+21%Actuary+22%Mathematician+8%Mathematics Professor+7%

Cybersecurity & Networks — Protect the systems everyone depends on.

Computer Network Architect+12%Information Security Analyst+29%

Environmental & Earth Science — Understand and protect the living planet.

Atmospheric Scientist & Meteorologist+1%Environmental Scientist+4%Geoscientist+5%Agricultural & Food Scientist+6%Zoologist & Wildlife Biologist+2%

This search, career by career

How to choose a STEM field: Software DeveloperHow to choose a STEM field: Web DeveloperHow to choose a STEM field: Computer ProgrammerHow to choose a STEM field: Computer Systems AnalystHow to choose a STEM field: Database AdministratorHow to choose a STEM field: Database ArchitectHow to choose a STEM field: Computer & Information Research ScientistHow to choose a STEM field: Data ScientistHow to choose a STEM field: StatisticianHow to choose a STEM field: Aerospace EngineerHow to choose a STEM field: Chemical EngineerHow to choose a STEM field: Civil EngineerHow to choose a STEM field: Electrical EngineerHow to choose a STEM field: Environmental EngineerHow to choose a STEM field: Industrial EngineerHow to choose a STEM field: Marine Engineer & Naval ArchitectHow to choose a STEM field: Mechanical EngineerHow to choose a STEM field: Biomedical EngineerHow to choose a STEM field: Registered NurseHow to choose a STEM field: Physician AssistantHow to choose a STEM field: Physician & SurgeonHow to choose a STEM field: Clinical Laboratory TechnologistHow to choose a STEM field: Medical ScientistHow to choose a STEM field: EpidemiologistHow to choose a STEM field: MicrobiologistHow to choose a STEM field: Biochemist & BiophysicistHow to choose a STEM field: PhysicistHow to choose a STEM field: AstronomerHow to choose a STEM field: Chemist & Materials ScientistHow to choose a STEM field: Operations Research AnalystHow to choose a STEM field: ActuaryHow to choose a STEM field: MathematicianHow to choose a STEM field: Mathematics ProfessorHow to choose a STEM field: Computer Network ArchitectHow to choose a STEM field: Information Security AnalystHow to choose a STEM field: Atmospheric Scientist & MeteorologistHow to choose a STEM field: Environmental ScientistHow to choose a STEM field: GeoscientistHow to choose a STEM field: Agricultural & Food ScientistHow to choose a STEM field: Zoologist & Wildlife Biologist

This search, by labor market

Newark, NJ11 countiesNew York, NY7 countiesLos Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA7 countiesChicago, IL11 countiesDallas, TX12 countiesFort Worth, TX7 countiesHouston, TX13 countiesAtlanta, GA16 countiesWashington, DC13 countiesMiami, FL3 countiesPhiladelphia, PA7 countiesPhoenix–Mesa–Scottsdale, AZ3 counties

All labor markets →

Near you

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

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Questions people ask

How is a "how to choose a stem field" different from a personality type test?

A type test gives you a label. STEM Compass gives you a profile on fifteen working traits and eight kinds of impact, then a directional match against each career — a number you can explain, not a letter code.

Does it cost anything?

No. The full assessment is open at tienesesto.org/stem-assessment, and every result links to a STEM Farm track that starts from zero.

Sources. Career traits, education paths and value lines are the STEM Compass assessment library. Employment growth is U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2024–2034. County economic types are USDA Economic Research Service County Typology Codes (2025); labor markets are Census commuting zones (2020). Salary is not shown anywhere in this campaign on purpose: the assessment measures fit and what the work is worth to the world.