All New Graduates 

Year Salary

1960 $ 6,500 1965 8,000 1970 11,000 1975 12,800 1980 17,100 1985 25,000 1989 31,000 1990 32,000 1991 33,000 1992 34,000

Men

Year Salary

1989 $30,500 1990 32,000 1991 33,000 1992 34,000

Women

Year Salary

1989 $31,000 1990 32,500 1991 33,200 1992 34,900

Source: American Mathematical Society/Mathematical Association of America

Indeed, Brown's McClure notes that this continues a trend that, two years ago, prompted one former Ph.D. student he knows to accept a job writing for late-night television host David Letterman and, last year, induced another Ph.D. graduate to find employment writing questions for a television quiz show in New England.

Some say there's room for optimism if classroom sizes are reduced, which would bring about openings by creating a need for more instructors to teach the additional classes that would be required. "Every study shows that large lectures in calculus aren't good for average-to-below-average...

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