13 Jobs Where Workers Believe They're Changing The World

Does your job make the world a better place? If you think it does, you'll be a lot happier.

According to Payscale's College Salary report, which includes data on majors from more than 1.4 million college alumni from 1,016 schools, the most meaningful jobs reported by alumni are nursing, special education, and medical technology.

Most of the jobs on the list require workers to care for others' physical, emotional, or mental health.

"There's typically a trade off," Katie Bardaro, lead economist at Payscale, tells Business Insider. "You can either go into a job with high societal benefits that doesn't pay well or low societal benefits with high pay."

As idealistic Millennials enter the workforce in droves, investing in meaningful work is increasingly important to workers. "In recent years, we definitely have seen a notable increase in people seeking job meaning," says Bardaro.

This need to feel that your job makes a difference in the world might stem from the effects of the recession, when Gen Y witnessed their parents losing their jobs and savings and struggled to find work themselves. Today's workers better understand that there is no promise for tomorrow, and money isn't everything.

Below are the top jobs where workers feel that what they do for a living changes the world for the better, according to Payscale's survey:

1. Nursing

Believe their job makes the world a better place: 85%

2. Special education

Believe their job makes the world a better place: 82%

3. Medical technology

Believe their job makes the world a better place: 79%

4. Sports medicine

Believe their job makes the world a better place: 79%

5. Biomedical Engineering

Believe their job makes the world a better place: 78%

6. Athletic Training

Believe their job makes the world a better place: 78%

7. Social Work

Believe their job makes the world a better place: 78%

8. Child and Family Studies

Believe their job makes the world a better place: 77%

9. Biblical Studies

Believe their job makes the world a better place: 77%

10. Dietetics

Believe their job makes the world a better place: 76%

11. Molecular Biology

Believe their job makes the world a better place: 76%

12. Health Care administrators

Believe their job makes the world a better place: 74%

13. Elementary education

Believe their job makes the world a better place: 74%

On the other hand, jobs with the lowest meaning include film production, fashion merchandising, fashion design, and advertising.