The mean salary for research-and-development specialists--including a wide range of professionals in the physical and life sciences--fluctuated greatly in 1990 as compared with the prior year, according to a new survey by Abbott, Langer & Associates, a management consulting firm based in Crete, Ill.
In some cases, mean salaries rose to match cost-of-living adjustments. For other science professionals, salaries were stable owing to the recessionary economy. And in a few categories, mean salaries dropped, suggesting a greater percentage of new entrants in the job market.
The overall trend was toward slight increases for some research-and-development jobs, which also included engineering positions, although Abbott, Langer grouped these separately. Salary statistics for supervisory staffers, such as directors and managers, were also compiled separately. (These will be discussed in the July 22, 1991, issue of The Scientist.)
The consulting firm received responses from 244 organizations, including a wide range of manufacturers, universities, government ...
