By Tia Ghose
published
Sure, your 7th grade algebra teacher claimed you'd need math all the time. But something doesn't add up: most Americans never use advanced math on the job, research suggests.
Less than a quarter of workers use math beyond fractions at their jobs, according to a survey of 2,300 workers conducted by Michael Handel, a researcher at Northeastern University in Massachusetts.And highly skilled blue-collar workers — think machinists, mechanics and the like — use advanced math such as algebra more than their white-collar peers.
About 86 percent of jobs require simple addition and subtraction, but only 5 percent of jobs required calculus. Of course, before people toss out their math books, it's important to note that the best blue-collar jobs do require high-level math such as algebra, while more than a fifth of white-collar jobs require statistics, The Atlantic reported.
Follow Tia Ghose on Twitter @tiaghose.FollowLiveScience @livescience, Facebook& Google+.
Managing Editor
Tia is the managing editor and was previously a senior writer for Live Science. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Wired.com and other outlets. She holds a master's degree in bioengineering from the University of Washington, a graduate certificate in science writing from UC Santa Cruz and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Tia was part of a team at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that published the Empty Cradles series on preterm births, which won multiple awards, including the 2012 Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism.
