// 07 · how this is built
Method and sources
DET. JWhat each number means
and how much weight it can carryNot every figure here is the same kind of fact. Some are counted, some projected, some my judgement. They are labelled so you can tell which is which — a measured graduate count deserves more of your trust than an editorial AI-exposure score, and none of this should be the only thing you read.
| Metric | Definition | Source | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Demand index | 0–100 composite blending projected employment growth, hiring volume, salary momentum and the strength of current demand drivers. | Editorial composite | Editorial |
| Demand growth | Projected annual employment growth for the discipline. | US BLS occupational projections | Sourced |
| Supply growth | Projected annual change in graduate output and new entrants. | Editorial estimate | Estimate |
| Market tightness | Demand growth minus supply growth. Sets candidate leverage. | Derived | Derived |
| Graduate output | US bachelor’s degrees awarded, by discipline. | ASEE, Profiles of Engineering & Engineering Technology 2023 | Measured |
| Salary bands | Entry, median and senior pay for the selected region. | BLS + market surveys (US); The Engineer, IMechE/IChemE and graduate-scheme data (UK); market estimate (UAE) | Sourced |
| AI exposure | 0–100 estimate of the share of core work current models can generate or automate. | Editorial, scored on the nature of the output | Editorial |
| AI stance | Whether exposure amplifies, augments, or compresses entry-level work. | Editorial | Editorial |
| Entry requirements | Subjects departments gate on, plus typical offer bands. | Published university course requirements | Sourced |
| Pivot routes | Conversions employers accept without retraining. Weighted and directional. | Editorial | Editorial |
| Employers | Representative major names per discipline, grouped by kind of work. | Editorial | Editorial |
| Graduate outcomes | Unemployment and underemployment among graduates aged 22–27. Underemployment counts those in jobs that do not require a degree. | NY Fed, The Labor Market for Recent College Graduates, 2024 ACS data | Sourced |
| 2030 outlook | Forecast demand index for 2030, with drivers, risks and a confidence level. | Editorial forecast — the least certain figure on this site | Forecast |
| Master’s routes | Postgraduate degrees mapped to the disciplines they follow from, with strong programmes by region. | Editorial, cross-referenced against department offerings | Editorial |
| Fit shortlist | Weighting of the metrics above against your answers. | Derived | Derived |
DET. KKnown limitations
what this site cannot tell youGraduate counts are US-onlyThey stay ASEE data in every region, so they show relative pipeline size rather than global supply. UK and Gulf figures are not substituted when you switch region.
UAE salaries are untaxedThey sit closer to take-home than the US and UK figures. Converting currencies for a like-for-like comparison will mislead you.
UK pay clusters at entryGraduate salaries sit near £30k across almost every discipline, so fields separate much later in a career than the US spread implies. Weigh the senior band, not the entry one.
Category mapping is imperfectSoftware combines computer science inside and outside engineering; Electrical and Computer each carry a share of 3,646 combined degrees; Civil and Environmental split 1,612 more. Each field states its own mapping.
Two fields carry no graduate figureRobotics has no separate ASEE category and Financial Engineering is not an undergraduate engineering degree. Both are marked not reported rather than given an invented number.
Medians hide skewMost acutely in Financial Engineering, where elite proprietary firms pay multiples of the bank risk roles carrying the same job title.
AI exposure has no authoritative datasetThere is no BLS equivalent. The ordering is defensible; the individual numbers are directional.
Outcome samples are smallThe NY Fed per-major estimates carry wide confidence intervals — Computer Engineering’s 7.5% spans roughly 4% to 11% at 95%. Read the ordering, not the decimals. Nine fields have no separate category and are read against a broader one.
The 2030 forecast is opinionEvery other number describes something that has happened or been projected by a statistical agency. The outlook is my judgement about drivers and risks, and labour-market forecasts five years out are usually wrong in interesting ways. Use the direction, not the value.
“Live” means simulatedThe ticker and index drift around fixed baselines, the way a terminal shows a quote moving between releases. No underlying figure updates in real time.
DET. MData vintage
when each input was last true, and when it turns overEvery figure here has a shelf life. This is the part most sites leave out, and it is the reason a page can look authoritative eighteen months after it stopped being right. If the reviewed date below is more than a year old, treat the numbers as indicative and check the primary source.
| Input | Vintage | Refresh cycle |
|---|---|---|
| Graduate output | ASEE 2023 | Annual, published each autumn |
| Employment growth | US BLS 2024–34 projections | Revised every two years |
| Salary medians | BLS 2024–25 plus 2026 surveys | Annual |
| Entry requirements | 2026–27 admissions cycle | Annual, each spring |
| University lists | 2026 standing | Reviewed annually |
| Graduate outcomes | NY Fed, 2024 ACS | Annual, each February |
| AI exposure, pivots, employers | Editorial, rev C | Reviewed with each release |
Site revision C · last reviewed July 2026. The demand, supply and AI scores are recomputed by hand at each revision rather than pulled from a feed, so they move with the release and not with the market.
DET. LSources
primary references| Publisher | Publication | Used for | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASEE | Profiles of Engineering & Engineering Technology 2023 | Graduate output by discipline | Link ↗ |
| US BLS | Occupational Outlook Handbook and Employment Projections | Employment growth, US salary medians | Link ↗ |
| NY Fed | The Labor Market for Recent College Graduates | Graduate unemployment and underemployment | Link ↗ |
| The Engineer | Annual Salary Survey | UK experienced-engineer pay | Various |
| University departments | Individual course pages | Subject gates and typical offers | Various |
Representative figures for orientation, not financial or career advice. Requirements and pay change year to year — check the individual course page and current listings before deciding anything.