Geology Faculty Skeptical About AGI Study

Date: December 7, 1992 Median salaries for most geology faculty rose sharply in the 1991-92 academic year, according to a recently released survey by the Alexandria, Va.-based American geological Institute (AGI). These results are surprising to some geology professors, who contend that salaries have been dampened by the recession. An AGI official acknowledges that the survey may not give a totally accurate picture of faculty pay. A separate AGI study of starting salaries for new graduates shows that environmental concerns have affected overall opportunities in the field. In AGI's faculty survey, conducted in February and March 1992, administrators reported salaries of their geology faculty. Responses were received from 73 geology departments throughout the United States. The survey found that the median pay for the 513 full professors whose salaries were reported was $61,800, a 9 percent increase from the 1990-91 school year. Median pay for the 231 associate professors surveyed was $46,800, a 7.1 percent increase from the 1990-91 school year. The median salary for 174 assistant professors was $36,900, a 3.4 percent hike. The fairly sizeable increases reported in median pay are puzzling to some academics. Professors at many state schools, they say, have seen little or no salary gains because of budget cuts caused by the recession. "I know of many places in academia that didn't receive increases," says John Hughes, chairman of the geology department at Miami University in Ohio. "There's a lot of competition for what we're looking for, and also the pool of candidates is very strong.... I think the survey paints the wrong picture of what's going on." Nick Claudy, AGI's manager of human resources, says the findings in part reflect an abundance of older, higher-paid faculty. "There's a real top-heavy aging component," he says. "The percentage of change may be a great deal of money at the [full] professor's level... and there are probably enough exceptions to skew the whole sample." The AGI survey found that the median salary for the 93 female professors at all levels whose pay was reported was $40,200, a 7.2 percent increase over the 1990-91 level. Data for minorities weren't available, because "there were so few ethnic-minority faculty" salaries reported, according to the survey. In the 1991-92 school year, blacks accounted for 0.6 percent of the total population surveyed, up from 0.4 percent in the previous year. Hispanics accounted for 0.4 percent of the overall population, down from 1.3 percent, while Native Americans accounted for 0.1 percent, up from zero the year before. Sixty-two geology departments projected pay increases for the current 1992-93 year, with the median increase expected to be 6.3 percent. But, says Donald DePaolo of the geology and geophysics department at the University of California, Berkeley: "There's reason to believe there'll be less demand, because student enrollment in many geology departments is going down.... It seems there are many more positions for faculty relating to environmental degradation. You're seeing a trend toward shifting the interests of geology faculty from resource extraction and toward hydrology." The environment is also playing a role in determining opportunities for new geology graduates. In a separate survey, AGI found that median starting pay for most entry-level geologists working at environmental consulting firms in 1991 outpaced salaries for new hires in the mining, oil, and gas industries; academia; and government agencies. The increase reflects rising concern over water quality, as consulting firms are being hired to monitor or clean up polluted areas, geologists say. For instance, consulting firms paid inexperienced new hires with bachelor's degrees a median salary of $28,750, a 35.3 percent increase over the 1990 level. Those with master's degrees received a $33,750 median salary, a 39.7 percent increase. Ph.D. grads saw no gains, a result of less emphasis placed on research work by consulting firms. The high priority placed on restoration and cleanup has also prompted modest increases in median salaries paid by some national labs and federally funded research institutions, geologists say. "The consulting firms are hiring heavily at the bachelor's and master's levels because of hazardous waste cleanups," says Stephen Stow, who heads the earth sciences section at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. "Demand for these people is way up and will continue to be a strong driver. But the consulting firms don't want someone with a Ph.D. who wants to do academic- type research." AGI conducted the entry-level survey in late 1990, asking respondents to anticipate 1991 salaries. The association polled nearly 80,000 members, including consulting firms, schools, research institutions, and government agencies. Although AGI hasn't collected figures for 1992, experts say that certain trends noted in the 1990 survey continue to hold true. Lee Younker of the earth science department at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif., says that many federally funded institutions are still feeling recessionary constraints. "Budgets are tight, and this has not been a period of rapid growth for any geoscience organization," he says. Median starting salaries in industry haven't kept up, either, reflecting a slump that's occurred for much of the past decade, geologists say. Median pay for new bachelor's grads jumped 11.5 percent, according to the AGI survey, reflecting the need to remain competitive with consulting firms. However, master's grads received a median of $38,500, which was only a 3.4 percent gain. Ph.D. grads got a median of $43,750, the same as in 1990. Mining companies gave bachelor's grads a median salary of $28,350, a 6.3 percent increase, while master's grads got a median of $31,650, representing no gain over the 1990 level. Ph.D. grads were paid a median salary of $35,000, down 2.3 percent from 1990. "The industry is just going through the throes," says O. James Gant, exploration staff manager at the Atlantic Richfield Co. in Dallas. "There's been tremendous consolidation. Major companies are moving their major operations overseas. So they're not hiring as much, and it'll keep the salaries from going up." The survey of salaries for new hires also found that academia paid inexperienced geologists slightly higher median salaries. This may have reflected a need to compensate for earlier years, when jobs were left vacant or pay was frozen, geology professors say. A bachelor's grad received $21,250, a 7.9 percent hike in 1991 over 1990, while master's grads got $24,150, which amounted to a 6.3 percent gain. Ph.D. grads were paid $33,550, a 6.1 percent increase in median pay. Edward R. Silverman is a freelance writer based in Hoboken, N.J.

Geology Faculty Skeptical About AGI Study

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