The study was conducted by the National Science Foundation in 1989 for release this year. NSF surveyed 73,611 Ph.D. scientists of varying levels of experience, with a response rate of 55 percent. The findings show that the median annual salary of white Ph.D.'s in all disciplines is 7.5 percent to 11 percent more than what minorities earn.
For instance, the median pay for white chemists is 22.2 percent more than the median for black chemists and 3.7 percent more than the median for Hispanic chemists. For physicists, the median for whites is 2.6 percent more than the median for blacks and 4.8 percent more than the median for Hispanics. The study also found that Asian Ph.D.'s earn less than whites in most disciplines.
Disparities often exist despite job function and length of employment. According to the NSF data, for example, the median pay for a white female Ph.D. with 10 ...
