don't study stem. physics and mechanical engineering double major here. stem shortage is a meme. you will be severely underpaid due to no overtime payments(salary agreements). work is high stress because of unreasonable deadlines, so you have to pull overtime to finish stuff and you don't get paid for those. if you can't finish it you get bullied & fired and replaced.

there is no shortage of stem people either. the only shortage is for 5+ year experienced STEM people who wouldn't work for scraps. if you want a real salary good luck getting a job.

study business,finance,law or medicine instead of STEM. all of them will pay better unless you are really a dumbass. people often compare average salaries of a "business" major and an "engineer" but if you are smart enough to be an "average" engineer than you'll be in top 10% of business majors anyway. most people seem to overlook that.

i think STEM has the lowest ROI for any degree. people compare 4 years to 4 years as in investment(as if studying STEM and non STEM requires the same effort) but in STEM you grind your ass to get your degree while non-STEM people do fuckall and enjoy their lives and at the end of the day the salary difference(speaking for us) is around 20000~ / yr.(max). but the amount of stress and autism you endure is worth way more than 20000$.

dont fucking study stem. its horrible.