142 SCIENTIST 



As far as material rewards are concerned they are 

 slightly better in industry than in education. But here 

 again some qualification is necessary. At the moment there 

 is, and probably for some time to come there will be, an 

 overall shortage of scientists to fill the nation's rapidly 

 growing needs. Competition for the really original and 

 most productive type of worker is particularly keen, and 

 there is a considerable variation from field to field. A 

 paleontologist or taxonomic botanist is less sought after 

 than a solid state physicist or molecular biologist, for ex- 

 ample. Competition is changing the market rapidly, and 

 it is probable that the salaries available four or five years 

 hence will be considerably higher in several categories than 

 they are now. With these quaUfications in mind, it may be 

 said that the average newly hatched Ph.D. may expect a 

 salary of from $6,000 to $9,000 a year. The lower figures 

 are characteristic of colleges and universities, the higher 

 ones of industry, with government laboratories somewhere 

 in between. At more senior levels, the very highest salaries 

 are still paid by industry, but the number is probably a 

 good deal less than is often thought. The great bulk of 

 scientists with more than ten years of experience will be 

 found in the $10,000 to $15,000 bracket whether in in- 

 dustry, government, or educational institutions. Although 

 the beginning and perhaps the average salaries of govern- 

 ment workers compare favorably with those in the aca- 

 demic world, government at present has a relatively low 

 ceiling. Currently, the top for working scientists (that is, 

 excluding a handful of scientific executives) is in the vicin- 

 ity of $19,000 per year. It is not uncommon for the better 

 universities to pay their top scientists as much as $25,000, 

 and a few receive as much as $30,000. Universities have a 

 salary scale for the various academic ranks, and the salaries 



