A report that examines work participation and wage rates for recent public college and university graduates finds that health-care and education graduates are more likely to work in the state.

The report, West Virginia Work and Wages by Major, Gender, and Race 2006, was issued today (Aug. 1) by the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics .

According to the most recent data, 46.4 percent of graduates of West Virginias public colleges and universities during the past decade worked in West Virginia in 2006.

The latest analysis reveals that education and health-care graduates tend to have relatively high work participation rates,said George Hammond , associate director of the WVU Bureau of Business and Economic Research and lead author of the report.

Indeed, 56.3 percent of the 16,885 education graduates from 1995-96 to 2004-05 were working in West Virginia in 2006. Of the 15,504 health-care graduates during the past decade, 56.2 percent were working in the state in 2006.

In contrast, we see lower work participation rates for certain science- and technology-related fields like biomedical sciences, engineering, as well physical sciences,Hammond said.

According to the report, there were 4,797 engineering graduates during the past decade, and 28.5 percent were working in the state in 2006. There were 2,909 biomedical graduates during the past 10 years, and 33.7 percent were working in the state. Physical sciences had 1,252 graduates, and 33.7 percent were working in the state.

In addition, results show that state work participation rates are higher for female than for male graduates, although wages earned by female graduates are below the male average. The data also show differences across race, with American-Indian and Caucasian graduates posting the highest work participation rates and Asian graduates posting the lowest rates in 2006.

The reports findings reflect the importance of higher education to the economic future of West Virginia and indicate the direct returns on the investment made by students and parents in their college education,said Brian Noland, HEPC chancellor.

The data analyzed in the report were provided by HEPC and cover graduates from state public institutions of higher education during the academic years from 1995-96 to 2004-05. Data on graduates are matched by Workforce West Virginia , with data on employment and wages covered under the state unemployment compensation system.

The employment data are considered to be of high quality but do not include all individuals working in the state at a given time. For instance, the dataset excludes the self-employed and other workers not covered by state unemployment compensation such as railroad workers and federal government employees.

Highlights of the report:

* Work Participation and Wages by Major *

Precision production (79.9 percent), science technologies (78.7 percent), and mechanic and repair technologies (68.8 percent) all rank in the top 10 areas of concentration for work participation. These are all associates degrees.

Education graduates tend to post high work participation rates across all degrees, including masters and doctoral degrees. Health professions also generate relatively high work participation rates, including those for bachelors and masters degrees.

Areas of concentration with high annualized wages tend to be those related to technical, scientific, health and business degrees, including engineering ($55,418), health ($51,199) and legal professions ($49,634).

Work participation rates are higher for lawyers (56.6 percent) than for health professionals (37.8 percent), but annualized wages for health professionals ($112,683) are nearly double the average for lawyers ($57,116).

* Work Participation and Wages by Gender *

For graduates during the past decade, 50.6 percent of female graduates were working in the state in 2006 compared to 40.9 percent of male graduates.

Annualized wages in 2006 for men hit $43,182 in 2006 compared to $33,088 for women.

Work participation differences between men and women vary by degree with the largest gaps found for masters (men 14.5 percentage points lower), doctoral (7.9 percentage points lower) and bachelors degrees (7.4 percentage points lower).

* Work Participation and Wages by Race *

Work participation rates in 2006 were relatively high for American-Indian graduates, with 49.3 percent working in the state in 2006, followed by Caucasians (48.3 percent), blacks (31.8 percent) and Hispanics (24.4 percent). Asian graduates posted the lowest work participation rates in 2006, at 13.5 percent.

Annualized wages in 2006 were highest for Asian graduates ($41,631), followed by Caucasians ($37,181), Hispanics ($32,858), American-Indians ($31,540) and blacks ($28.082).