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STEM Compass · everyone

How to choose a STEM program

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. A STEM program is a path to a career. Find the career that fits first, then the STEM Farm track that starts at zero and ends in that job with verified proof at every gate.

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

Other ways people ask this

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Questions people ask

How is a "how to choose a stem program" 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.