So is neuroscience considered a STEM major?
Does it fall under one of these?
•Math
•Natural science
•Physical science
•Biological/agriculture science
•Engineering/engineering technology
•Computer/information science
Or does it fall under one of these?
•Social/behavioral science
•Medicine
•Health-related science
•Education field
Neuroscience is traditionally a subfield of biology (which is considered a life science, which is a category within natural sciences). Some classes may have a focus on health-related or medicine-related topics (for example, I took a class as an undergrad called Diseases of the Nervous System). Some programs may be more interdisciplinary than others, incorporating classes from cognitive science, psychology, computer science, sociology, chemistry, linguistics, medicine, etc.
Neuroscience can either be a subfield of biology or psychology: it depends. At some colleges, it’s more aligned with the biology department; at others, it’s a sub-major of the psychology department. It’s definitely STEM, though.
The two groups aren’t mutually exclusive, by the way. You can have a health-related natural, computer, or physical science (like medical physics, bioinformatics, or biomedical engineering); something can be a natural and a social science at the same time (human biology, environmental sciences, biopsychology, sociobiology); and something can also fall under education and the natural or physical sciences at the same time (science education).
Also, it depends on who we’re talking about when we say “do they consider this STEM”? I’m a straight-up social psychologist and the National Science Foundation considers me a STEM scientist. The NSF also considers economics and sociology to be STEM sciences. But most people wouldn’t group me, or economics or sociology, with STEM.
@juillet Thank you for your input! It was for a scholarship, and it was basically listing the groups off as “You can apply if you are planning to major this…” and “Don’t apply if you are planning to major this…”
And I thought the groups could be linked together in some cases, but thank you for confirming that neuroscience is definitely STEM!