Career Trends of University of Minnesota School of Public Health Alumni: Baseline Survey Results for a Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Objective: This work describes baseline results of the University of Minnesota (UMN) School of Public Health (SPH) Career Trends Survey (CTS), allowing for comparison to future CTS data. Design and Setting: The UMN SPH CTS was fielded using multiple methods, including paper and online, from January to March 2021. Participants: All US-based (at time of survey) UMN SPH alumni for whom the school maintained contact information were eligible to complete the survey. In total, 8817 alumni received the survey and 1966 responded (22% response rate). Main Outcome Measure: We examined the proportion of graduates’ first jobs by job sector over time, the proportion of graduates who switched job sectors over time, and how closely graduates’ first jobs related to public health over time. Results: Graduates overwhelmingly reported that their first jobs were either “somewhat related” or “strongly related” to public health, but a smaller proportion of graduates in the 2010s reported their first jobs being “strongly related” to public health compared to graduates from the first decades for which we have data. Conclusions: Data suggest a noteworthy trend: proportionally fewer of our recent public health graduates are going into governmental public health. Though a more nationally representative dataset is still needed, our results are a crucial step forward in determining how to mitigate the staffing up difficulties faced by many public health agencies.