Using exists in a query instead of a regular where
I'd suggest you another approach.

COUNT DISTINCT disciplines by employee.

Then use EXISTS to check if one Employee has more than one degree.

select      e.id, e.name
from        Employees e
where exists (select    1
              from      Academics a
              where     a.emp_id = e.id
              having count(distinct a.discipline) &gt; 1);


Or JOIN it with table Employees and show these were NumDegrees > 1

select      e.id, e.name, nd.NumDegrees
from        Employees e
inner join (select    emp_id, count(distinct a.discipline) NumDegrees
            from      Academics a
            group by  a.emp_id) nd
on          e.id = nd.emp_id
where       nd.NumDegrees &gt; 1;