tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post4140357195704253287..comments2024-03-12T03:41:35.856-04:00Comments on From Grad School to Happiness: On Pay in AcademiaJChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04468758055878600762noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-29626078310201893912016-06-28T12:19:22.073-04:002016-06-28T12:19:22.073-04:00I think one thing to keep in mind is that 50K is u...I think one thing to keep in mind is that 50K is usually (though not always) for a 9 month contract. You could supplement these 9 months with secondary work during the summer months, as long as your publishing requirements for tenure are not too steep.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-82283801426181298802015-09-18T18:27:46.207-04:002015-09-18T18:27:46.207-04:00You can lower your standards and go into the publi...You can lower your standards and go into the public school system of a major metro area. I did, loss of prestige, status, but a huge bump in pay. In NY, top tier teachers make over 100K. When I started I made 54K, now I'm at 70k, with a PHD you come in at a higher pay scale and you also get to see why our education system is failing. Then you can write about it and make more money. Try it, if you don't mind the out of control kids, imposed common core curriculum, and teacher evaluation system. You might even get used to it! Or at least, enjoy the quality of life you are able to live and don't forget you get every Christian, Jewish, and now a Muslim holiday off along with 2 months for summer! How's that for academic rigour! Just a thought..!https://www.blogger.com/profile/02390194918619357263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-78563762126801555082011-09-26T14:26:02.835-04:002011-09-26T14:26:02.835-04:00Nicely put: "Academic salaries are not based ...Nicely put: "Academic salaries are not based on 'fair market value.' They're based on the fact that the system of higher ed has created a captive pool of desperate people who will work for any salary and who will rarely exert pressure on the system to make salaries fairer."<br /><br />The captivity and desperation are the reasons why I chose to walk away from adjuncting and will never go back to it. I will never go back to it even "for fun" should I be comfortably situated in a new career and find myself excessively missing teaching (ha!). <br /><br />However, there are reasons, admittedly idiosyncratic ones, that are motivating me to try a third and final attempt at the tt "market." I'll put something up on my blog about that later. Worth mentioning here is that this search will be on MY terms, not academe's. While this strategy probably won't lead to a job anymore than any other strategy, at least I won't be a desperado. Given that I've taken some steps out into the Great Nonacademic Beyond, I have options, and I won't ever be in the unenviable position of choosing between the $40K tt job in Nowheresville and the even more unenviable adjunct job just about anywhere.<br /><br />On salaries, a quick glance at Iowa City's Craigslist shows secretary jobs like mine with salaries between $31K and $62K. While such jobs can pay $80K and above here in Crapital City, these salaries do suggest that academe is pretty far behind the curve. Sure, nobody becomes an academic with the expectation of getting rich -- but you don't become a secretary with that expectation, either. College and university faculty should be able to earn at least as much -- really more, when you think about it -- as the people who run their offices.recent Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01076749808434578362noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-52188613731516263252011-09-25T22:38:10.279-04:002011-09-25T22:38:10.279-04:00Yes, I tried to shy away from saying that $50k was...Yes, I tried to shy away from saying that $50k was a BAD salary. It certainly isn't in certain parts of the country. And if you had a partner who pulled a decent salary, $50k in a major metro area would be nothing to sneeze at either.<br /><br />But like you say - the salary paid in many academic jobs (especially jobs that aren't at the top R-1 institutions) seem to bear no relation to the cost of living in a given area or to the education level and experience of its applicants (and what they could command on the nonacademic job market). Two jobs I interviewed with were offering salaries of $51k (in metro NYC) and $38k (in a small southern town). The NYC salary would have probably given me a worse quality of life than I had in grad school, and the other salary was, frankly, about what I earn at my current full-time job (which does not require a graduate degree).<br /><br />I don't mean to imply that academic salaries are terrible or unlivable. But they don't seem to have much to do with the time and effort you spend getting qualified for such a position, nor with the salary that is necessary for a middle class life. Surely people who have worked their way through grad school and gotten a Ph.D. and a job deserve a middle class wage. But with the buyers' market of academic hiring, salaries stay down and people stay exploited.<br /><br />(Of course, this post also didn't touch on how new faculty salaries compare to the salaries of administrators ... which is a whole other issue).<br /><br />But yes, I agree with you. I'm realizing now that it's quite possible I could find a job without even using my degree that would pay much more than what I could get as a prof. That's been eye-opening.JChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04468758055878600762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3282788798018689873.post-36314242433630200892011-09-25T14:00:33.443-04:002011-09-25T14:00:33.443-04:00Two thoughts on this.
First, 50k in nowhere iow...Two thoughts on this. <br /><br />First, 50k in nowhere iowa is a livable salary. 50k in a major metro area (LA, SF, NYC, Boston, DC, etc) is barely above grad student wages. While there can be arguments about what a PhD is worth, it certainly deserves a middle class wage appropriate for the local area. It rarely seems to draw that.<br /><br />Second, this is one of the reasons why I am took my PhD and didn't even go on the job market. And I was comparatively a rock star in my department. I took my years of professional experience and applied them to my studies, resulting in publications and a positive reputation. However in my day job I STILL make twice would I would make on the academic job market. Why would I put myself through that degrading hiring process only to take a massive cut in pay?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com