CHEMISTRY GRAD SALARIES RISE WITH BETTER JOB MARKET

New, improved ACS survey of starting salaries for chemists gives clearer picture of job situation for graduates

After several stagnant years...

The survey
This latest ACS survey coordinated the Ph.D. portion with parallel surveys by other scientific societies of doctoral graduates in other disciplines. This necessitated some changes in the organization, content, and timing of the ACS effort.

For instance, this year, rather than sending out just one questionnaire, ACS sent out two questionnaires-one for doctoral graduates and a somewhat modified version for bachelor's and master's graduates. Some of the questions were changed from previous ACS surveys so that the questionnaires used by all the societies carried the same core of identical questions for doctoral graduates. And the ACS survey was conducted later than usual. The questionnaires were mailed in October instead of the usual August.

The joint effort on Ph.D. graduates involves ACS and 13 other societies, including the American Institute of Physics, the American Mathematical Society, and the American Economic Association. It follows a pilot study of 1996 graduates that involved ACS and six other societies (C&EN, Nov. 3, 1997, page 37). In this study, the $55,000 median starting salary for doctoral chemistry graduates with industrial jobs fell between the high of $70,000 for new computer scientists and the low of $50,000 for earth and space scientists.

The Commission on Professionals in Science & Technology (CPST) is coordinating the joint effort. Formed in 1953 as the Scientific Manpower Commission, CPST is affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It will make survey data on Ph.D. graduates from all societies available by the early summer, when C&EN will report on them.

Primary funding for the project comes from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Additional support comes from the National Science Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. The goal is to have it become an annual event.

ACS's two annual salary surveys-of new graduates in the fall and of all ACS members potentially in the U.S. workforce in the spring-are conducted by the society's Department of Career Services under the general direction of the Committee on Economic & Professional Affairs. Both surveys are supervised by senior research analyst Mary W. Jordan. Comments or questions about the survey should be directed to Jordan at (202) 872-4433.

For the starting salary survey, the names and addresses of new chemistry graduates living in the U.S. are provided by academic departments approved by the ACS Committee on Professional Training. For chemical engineers, they come from departments approved by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the Engineer's Council for Professional Development.

For the 1997 survey, ACS mailed more than 17,000 questionnaires. About 7,400 were returned, including 5,400 from chemists. This compares with a total of 10,400 questionnaires and just over 5,000 responses for the previous survey in 1996. The higher number of questionnaires resulted from the later mailing date, which gave more time for gathering names and addresses. The lower response rate, 44% compared with 49%, reflects the possibility that more graduates had moved on from the addresses provided by the time the questionnaires arrived.

Employment profiles...

First, salaries are affected by a host of factors, including nature of degree, nature of employment, and amount of prior work experience. And second, extra care is needed in comparing data from surveys conducted one year apart.

The apparent salary increases for chemists with full-time jobs obtained by comparing results of the 1996 and 1997 surveys are a case in point. Although they clearly indicate solid and widespread gains, some of them are too large to be believed literally. For instance, the $54,000 median for inexperienced 1997 Ph.D. graduates with permanent full-time jobs is 20% higher than the $45,000 median in 1996. Inexperienced graduates are those with less then 12 months of work experience prior to graduation.

The 1996-97 gain for bachelor's degree chemists is 12%, to $28,000, and for master's it is 10%, to $37,500. The increases for chemical engineers-1% for bachelor's, 4% for master's, and 5% for Ph.D.s- are more modest.

Changes in median salaries obtained by comparing results from consecutive annual surveys are vulnerable to year-to-year variances in the population being sampled. This likely explains the apparent 20% salary boost for Ph.D. chemistry graduates. In 1997, 67% of chemistry Ph.D.s with full-time jobs responding to the survey had obtained relatively better paying industry jobs. Only 18% had traditionally lower paying academic positions. For the 1996 survey, a smaller 57% were employed in industry and a larger 26% in academia.

Results from the 1997 survey indicate that Ph.D. chemistry graduates with permanent full-time jobs in industry received a median salary of $57,800. This compares with a median of $35,000 for those accepting permanent full-time college or university positions. These levels indicate a 5% gain over the 1996 median of $55,000 for industry jobs and a 12% increase over the $31,200 median for academic jobs in 1996.

The huge overall year-to-year increase in the median salary for chemistry doctoral grads was particularly welcome-even if it was driven largely by the greater availability of industry jobs and not by an unusually large increase in the value that employers place on such graduates. The 1996 median of $45,000 had been extraordinarily low- just above the $44,000 median for 1990. Over these same years, the median salary for chemical engineering doctoral graduates has risen 14%, from $50,000 to $57,000.

Bachelor's chemical engineering graduates earn considerably higher salaries than do their chemist colleagues in all job situations. For instance, their median of $43,500 for jobs in the manufacturing industry far exceeds the $30,500 median for chemists. For full-time campus jobs- other than graduate assistantships-the edge is $42,000 compared with $25,000.

Chemical engineering grads...

The advantage for chemical engineers persists for postdocs at universities and for graduate students. The median stipend for chemical engineering postdocs in academia, $30,000, comfortably exceeds the $24,000 for chemists. For industrial postdocs, the difference is $46,000 versus $40,000.

For graduate students with bachelor's degrees, the difference in stipends is $16,400 versus $15,000.

As has been the case for many years, gender has no measurable impact on starting salaries in the chemical field. For chemistry and chemical engineering graduates at the three degree levels responding to the 1997 survey, women have the slight edge in two of the six possible cases, men in two, and the other two are essentially even.

Gender not a factor...

Results from the 1997 survey also indicate that any salary advantage that B.S. chemistry graduates have over their B.A. colleagues is likely quite small. The median full-time salary for B.S. graduates is $29,500. For B.A. chemists, it is $28,100.

Grade-point average is another factor affecting starting salaries. The median salary of $45,000 for chemical engineering bachelor's graduates with an overall grade-point average of A is well ahead of the $38,000 for those with a C average. For chemists, the difference is smaller- $28,000 for an A average, $26,000 for a C average.

There also is a correlation between starting salaries for chemists and chemical engineers and size of employer. It carries across all degree levels. For instance, new Ph.D. chemists taking full-time jobs during 1997 at organizations with 100 to 499 employees had a median salary of $52,000. For those joining operations with 25,000 or more employees, the median was $60,000. This correlation is also reflected in ACS's annual survey of member salaries.

For chemistry bachelor's graduates, having a degree certified by ACS translates into a salary advantage. The median full-time salary for inexperienced certified graduates of $30,000 exceeds the $28,000 median for those without certification.

As would be expected, certification does make a significant difference for bachelor's degree chemists who go on to advanced studies. Almost 58% of certified respondents doing so in 1997 remained in chemistry, and only 12% went to medical school. For noncertified graduates, 22% remained with chemistry while 30% took up medicine.

Again, data have to be interpreted carefully and any bias resulting from a possible tendency for those in a favorable employment status to respond more readily to the survey than those who are not so fortunately situated cannot be quantified. However, with the revised survey questionnaire used this year, respondents could more readily and unambiguously report their employment situation.

The employment data from the 1997 survey also quantify some very marked differences between chemistry and chemical engineering. They confirm that the chemical engineering bachelor's degree is accepted as a terminal, professional degree to a far greater extent than is the bachelor's degree in chemistry-a difference that is also borne out by the salary data.

Almost 71% of 1997 chemical engineering bachelor's respondents moved directly into full-time permanent jobs. Only 14% went to graduate school. This compares with 33% of chemistry bachelor's graduates taking full-time permanent jobs and 43% entering graduate school.

The profile for doctoral graduates is quite similar, with 71% of chemical engineers and 35% of chemists moving to full-time permanent jobs, and 22% and 51%, respectively, taking postdoc positions. Again, chemical engineering graduates with full-time jobs are more likely to be in industry, 83%, than the chemistry graduates, 71%.

The 51% of doctoral chemistry graduates taking up postdoc positions in 1997 was unusually high, even for chemists. In the 1996 survey, it was 44%. In 1995, it was 36%.

The higher level for 1997 could be related to the later timing of the survey. However, it might be suggested that, although improved, the overall employment situation in chemistry is not yet optimal, especially as, according the survey, 57% of new postdocs indicated they were actively looking for a job. As to where the jobs are, 71% of full-time jobs reported by 1997 chemistry bachelor's respondents were in industry, as were 92% of bachelor's chemical engineering jobs. For Ph.D. chemistry graduates, 67% of the jobs were in industry and 22% in academia. For doctoral chemical engineers, 83% were in industry and 10% in academia.

Higher grades...

Chemists are more likely than are chemical engineers to be in temporary or part-time jobs. For instance, some 12% of chemistry bachelor's degree respondents had full-time temporary jobs. Another 4% held part-time positions. Only 5% of chemical engineering bachelor's degree graduates had full-time temporary jobs, and just 2% reported they were in part-time positions.

Employed respondents were asked to answer questions about their jobs on a five-point scale from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). Doctoral chemists with full-time permanent jobs generally agreed, with averages hovering around 1.7, that their jobs were commensurate with their training, professionally challenging, and related to their field. They were less certain, with an average response of 2.6, that their jobs were similar to what they expected when they started their doctoral programs.

Bachelor's chemists with full-time permanent jobs were apparently less enthusiastic. Their average response to the questions on their jobs being commensurate with their training, challenging, and related to their fields was a more lukewarm 2.2.

For instance, 48% of 1997 bachelor's degree chemist respondents are women-up from 41% in 1987. The 10-year gain for master's is from 39% to 46%, and the gain for Ph.D. graduates is from 26% to 32%. The representation of women in chemical engineering shows similar growth, but at a slightly lower level. Of 1997 bachelor's graduates, 35% are women as are 29% of master's and 23% of Ph.D.s.

Women account for almost half...

The dominant racial demographic change has been a large influx of Asians. At the bachelor's level, the large majority of Asian graduates are either U.S. citizens or permanent residents. For master's and Ph.D.s, there is an additional boost from Asian students on temporary visas. In 1997, 54% of Asian chemical engineering doctoral graduates were on temporary visas, as were 51% of Asian chemistry doctoral graduates.

Just more than 13% of bachelor's chemistry respondents to the 1997 survey are Asian-up from 5% in 1987. The parallel gain for the chemical engineering bachelor's class is very similar-from 5% to 12%.

In 1997, 27% of doctoral chemistry survey respondents were Asian, as were 32% of doctoral chemical engineering graduates. Many of these are foreigners who apparently are staying on in this country. A high 30% of all chemical engineering doctoral respondents to the 1997 survey are on temporary visas. The parallel figure for chemistry Ph.D.s is 19%.

SALARY SURVEY AVAILABILITY