Employers increasingly seek technical skills from MPH graduates, reflecting a shift towards roles in for-profit sectors. The study from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health emphasizes the alignment between academic competencies and real-world demands, advocating for dynamic curriculum updates.
A new study from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health reveals intriguing insights into the current employability landscape for Master of Public Health (MPH) graduates. According to the research, while public health programs generally align with employment needs, stronger linkages with real-time labor market data could further enhance graduates’ job readiness.
Published in the American Journal of Public Health, this research is the first of its kind to utilize a large-scale dataset of job postings to compare the skills, certifications and software competencies sought by current employers against those required by the Council on Education in Public Health (CEPH).
“Our research revealed labor market competition for public health degree graduates, as well as certain technical skills desired by today’s employers, while showing that the CEPH competencies do, in large part, match current employer demands,” Heather Krasna, associate dean of Career and Professional Development at Columbia Mailman School, said in a news release.
Analyzing 70,343 job postings from Lightcast, a firm specializing in the aggregation and analysis of job postings, the researchers identified the top-needed skills and competencies. They found a notable demand for graduates in the for-profit industry, academia/research and health care, with just 12% of postings in government agencies — highlighting competition from higher-paying sectors like consulting, insurance and pharmaceuticals.
“The job market for MPH graduates seems to continue moving towards for-profit companies, such as insurance firms and health care, which is in alignment with other research on employment outcomes of public health graduates,” Krasna added. “Public health graduates’ skills are in demand in many sectors where they can make a positive impact on the public’s health.”
The study underscores the value of dynamic curriculum planning in public health degrees to ensure graduates acquire the specific technical abilities listed in job postings.
Despite significant overlaps, some crucial skills like diversity and inclusion, health equity and advocacy — central to CEPH competencies — were less emphasized in postings. Krasna offered an explanation, suggesting that the prevalence of roles with analytical and technical focuses might skew the skillset demands.
“It is possible that the large proportion of job postings in for-profit corporations (26%), health care/hospitals (14%) and academia/research (26%) and the relative scarcity of job postings in government or nonprofits (12%), as well as the skewing of job titles towards analytical, technical and epidemiological roles, meant that technical and statistical skills were more in-demand than skills in community partnerships and diversity,” added Krasna.