Just ask Tara Walker. Although she now works for Starbucks, she graduated with a Math degree and stepped right into a role at Tableau Software as a data analyst, where she became a master of using Tableau to tell data-driven narratives and led training on how to use Tableau for new users. (Look back at Tara’s SPU experience in this “My World” video.)
A variety of careers
While Alex Eklund ’09 majored in math at SPU, he was already eager to teach what he was learning. “For me, math is something that teaches me about the order that surrounds us as humans in our everyday lives,” he says. “I am really excited to teach my students how all of math, from the formulas to how math has developed itself, points to an underlying purpose in the world we live in.”
Math teaches you skills in high demand with employers:
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How to think critically about various situations and absorb new contexts quickly.
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How to analyze information in a logical way and communicate the results clearly and precisely.
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How to fight and overcome struggles, persevering until you’ve found a solution.
While many math majors go into teaching, other SPU math graduates go into a variety of other fields. Some do computational math work for banks and other financial institutions. Some work for Boeing, others for insurance companies. Many have gone on to graduate school or law school — even Harvard Law School.
In this digital age, a Mathematics degree supplemented with computer programming skills makes you an extremely valuable employee. SPU offers an Applied Mathematics major with an emphasis in computational mathematics.
Here are just some of the possible careers you might pursue:
- Teaching (at all levels)
- Research
- Actuarial science
- Data analysis
- Statistical consulting
- Business consulting
- Accounting
- Business management
- Investment analysis
- Law
- Biostatistics
- Physical therapy
- Marketing and sales consulting
Discover more of the career options that have opened for SPU Mathematics alumni.