PhD Salaries Still Sinking
by Daniel Luzer
Never mind getting a tenure-track job in academia. While a PhD-holder finding a good job is rare enough, it turns out that the salary prospects for academics is declining too.
From the Boston Globe comes news that:
Perhaps people should flee the Ph.D. path…. While the inflation-adjusted earnings of workers with bachelor’s or masters degrees have increased very slightly since 1999—a rise of one percent or less—the story was quite different for the doctorate. Employees with Ph.D.’s can expect to earn 10 percent less, in real dollars, than they would have a decade ago.
That being said, it looks like real wages for people of all education levels hasn’t increased much in the last decade. I fear to look at what’s has happened to the salaries of journalists in the same period. Academia never was a particularly high-wage occupation.
Comments
Post a commentinkadu on Tue 19 Jan 2010 12:56 PM
Does this calculation include grant money as well as university salary?
Prof. V on Thu 21 Jan 2010 10:37 AM
The majority of people with who are full-time faculty at colleges and universities never get grants or fellowships. This is even more the case in the humanities. In many cases grants or fellowships are used to offset other costs such as equipment and travel to do research so even those getting grants are not lining their pockets. The starting salary at the college where I work is so low that if the person comes in as the sole earner in a three person household, he or she would qualify for low income housing.
Ashwell on Thu 16 Sep 2010 03:45 AM
I think the reason for no increase in the salaries of those who are in the education segment as well as in the journalism is due to the overflowing competition. Many graduate a year and what happens to them? Do they get placed in some companies or not? Many prefer to choose such careers even if the salaries are low.
Ashwell on Tue 19 Oct 2010 05:56 AM
I think the reason for no increase in the salaries of those who are in the education segment as well as in the journalism is due to the overflowing competition. Many graduate a year and what happens to them? Do they get placed in some companies or not? Many prefer to choose such careers even if the salaries are low.