Studies in physics enable students to understand and analyse physical phenomena and their laws, and to undertake theoretical and experimental research into the properties of nature. Physics is taught at many different levels: secondary school, technical college and on various university courses, including Engineering, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, and, of course, Physics itself. Physicists are particularly valued in teaching and in a wide range of other fields, such as energy production, the development of IT and industrial applications, metrology, electronics and nanotechnology, quantum information and cryptography, astrophysics and space exploration, meteorology, oceanography, optics, acoustics and seismology, telecommunications, the environment, radiation physics, medical physics, image recognition and econophysics, among others. In addition, the bachelor’s degree in Physics enables students to take specialized training courses in radiology (Royal Decree 183/8 February 2008).
The unemployment rate of Physics graduates is one of the lowest of all Spanish degree qualifications. Physics graduates are versatile professionals who are used to analysing and modelling complex situations. Consequently, they are able to resolve different types of problems. They are trained to use advanced mathematical techniques that are frequently required to master the latest advances in computing. This is reflected in the wide range of fields that physics graduates enter: teaching, research, industry, computing, telecommunications, the civil service, banking, finance and consulting, among others.
Some studies have been carried out on the entry of Physics graduates into the job market. "La llicenciatura en Física: perfil de la professió" (Graduate degree courses in Physics: professional profile) is a study by J.Llosa et al. that was published by the Societat Catalana de Física (2005) and can be accessed at [scfis.iec.cat]. It analyses the employment status of graduates who obtained their qualifications in different years between 1988 and 1998. The authors found that the employment rate was 97.11% and that only 0.17% of physicists could be considered unemployed, whilst the rest were out of work for various personal reasons (studies, family, etc.). Such a low rate of unemployment can be classified as temporary interruption of employment, as a certain percentage of people are always in the process of changing their jobs.
These positive data are in agreement with a study undertaken in 2008 by AQU-Catalunya on University of Barcelona Physics graduates from 2004 and their entry into the job market: [aqucatalunya.org]. This study showed that 98% of Physics graduates were in employment, whilst 2% were unemployed because they were continuing with their studies. In addition, this recent analysis showed that 91% of Physics graduates found a job within six months of graduation.
