Walk through the world’s universities, and you find students concentrated in a surprisingly small number of fields.
What people choose to study shapes economies, career paths, and even gender gaps in the workforce.
TL;DR
- Across the OECD, STEM and business, administration and law are the two most popular fields, each accounting for about 23% of bachelor’s graduates.
- Arts and humanities, social sciences and journalism together account for about 22%.
- Health and welfare accounts for roughly one-sixth of graduates.
The field-of-study figures here come from the OECD’s Education at a Glance.
ALSO READ: How the World Measures Education, Explained
What the world studies
| wdt_ID | wdt_created_by | wdt_created_at | wdt_last_edited_by | wdt_last_edited_at | Broad field | Share of bachelor\'s graduates (OECD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 09/08/2026 02:40 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 09/08/2026 02:40 PM | STEM | 23% |
| 2 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 09/08/2026 02:40 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 09/08/2026 02:40 PM | Business, administration, law | 23% |
| 3 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 09/08/2026 02:40 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 09/08/2026 02:40 PM | Arts, humanities, social sciences | 22% |
| 4 | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 09/08/2026 02:40 PM | emmanuel-ashemiriogwa | 09/08/2026 02:40 PM | Health and welfare | 17% |
STEM is the most popular field overall, though in 9 OECD countries business, administration and law is the most common.
The mix is remarkably stable, with only a modest rise in STEM over the past decade.
Why the fields split by gender, and why it matters
The choice of field is one of the clearest places gender patterns appear.
Women dominate health and welfare but are underrepresented in STEM, a divide that echoes through the workforce and the pay gap, since STEM graduates tend to see stronger earnings.
This is the through-line connecting fields to money: what students study, not just how long, shapes what they earn, which is why field choice is so consequential.
ALSO READ: The Education Gender Gap: Who Gets Left Behind
ELI5
Most university students study one of a few things: science and tech, business and law, the arts and humanities, or health.
Around the world, science and tech and business are the biggest.
Men and women tend to pick different fields, which affects what they earn later.
Sources
