These days, young chemistry faculty members might be excused for being a bit envious of colleagues in engineering and business. A salary gap big enough to buy a lifetime subscription to Current Contents has opened between the two groups, the result of bidding wars between academia and industry that have driven up starting salaries for engineering and business Ph.Ds. But all is not bleak for chemists; salaries for assistant professors hired in 1987 suggest that a similar rivalry has just begun to boost the standard of living in chemistry.
That's how sociologist Thrry Russell of the Office of Professional Relations at the American Chemical Society interprets the 1987-88 salary survey for 262 academic specialities published by Oklahoma State University.
The survey shows that full chemistry professors' salaries are higher than the average of professors' salaries at the 80 universities in the study while associate and assistant professors in chemistry receive...
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