Oh, I understood that. But there was still a better way to “explain” it. And it’s not like whoever is getting this position that in reality has been filled is not getting paid. Or that doing more work for the same amount of money is a reality outside of academia.
Exactly. All in the lucky recipient will make less than minimum wage, when calculated on an hourly basis.
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You are assuming that they are teaching undergraduates. This is unlikely. They probability have a graduate student(s) and they need to be on staff so that the PhD candidates can get credit for the research under them. Also, they may be a PhD candidates advisor.
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The explanation of the posting sounds a bit like how my SIL’s job works. He’s technically adjunct faculty at a university. He occasionally teaches seminars on his specialty area to grad students, supervises a few grad students and/or post docs occasionally, but he actually works for (and is paid by) a private institute located on campus.
His private employer pays significantly better (like 2-3x times better) than what he made as a full professor.
He doesn’t feel taken advantage of.
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How many graduate students does each faculty member at a research university supervise to PhD completion? Compare that number to 1 (the number needed to replace that faculty member on retirement) to see how unlikely it is to get a faculty job at a research university.
Probably means that most PhD graduates eventually go elsewhere:
- Faculty at universities other than PhD granting research universities.
- Faculty at community colleges.
- Faculty at high schools.
- Research or other jobs in industry or government (non-academic).
A math major probably has more non-academic options than those of many other majors.
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Both my high school math teachers were women with PhDs. I really looked up to them.
My daughter’s HS physics teacher had a PhD. When my daughter was considering it and we all learned how hard it was to get a job on a college campus, I started looking at specialized math and science HS’s in the area and saw that many had PhDs.
Salaries are much higher at the HS level (at least by us). My daughter spoke with one of her professors in college and they started to discuss the salaries of tenured professors…they were surprisingly low…not to mention how hard those jobs are to come by.
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I’ve seen that too. A few years ago one of my friends who is a tenured professor at a nearby college (PhD from Stanford) told me they were making less than many teachers at our public high school (average salary was in the low $90s at the time).
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Public school salaries by me are pretty good, especially when you add in the extra steps that a PhD would bring. If you love teaching, I actually think it’s a great career (but it’s not for everyone).
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The low $90s!!! Wow! Teachers around here are lucky to start at $40K. I don’t think it ever gets up to $90k. Seems like a lot of disparity by state, but I guess COL varies too.
https://ncses.nsf.gov/indicators/states/indicator/public-school-teacher-salaries
https://study.com/academy/popular/teacher-salary-by-state.html
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New teachers don’t make $90k, of course, but experienced ones are pretty well paid. COL here in MA is pretty high, though.
Where I live teacher pay usually starts in the $40s, and after 25 years and a PhD you’re still not breaking $60k. There is not a lot of bonus for extra degrees (usually about $500/degree level), so someone with a PhD may only earn $2k more than someone with a Bachelor’s only.
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Sounds like us, too.
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BA step 1 here starts at about 60, but you get extra $ for more credits in your teaching area (pertains to middle and HS). Once you get your masters (required) you get a decent salary increase.
As a frame of reference, one of my kids has been in her district for 4 years, and when you include summers she is at about 90,000. She also stays after school and earns additional money, putting her over 90.
My other one did an alternate route gap year program (same district) and started at just under 70 as a non-education major. She got extra $ for her extra science credits.
The salaries can be decent and dependable depending on location, but you really have to like it (it’s a hard job). It’s a steady income with excellent benefits (free health insurance in their district) but it’s not for everyone.
Yeah we’ve talked about this before. Our area tops out in the $60s even with a phd and no extra anything. And family health insurance is $2000/month for a mediocre plan. And the job here is very tough. Turnover is high. It’s not for the faint of heart.
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Additionally, many American PhD graduates move abroad. Nearly half of my cohort got jobs in academia outside the US (Australia, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands).
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And I thought it was bad enough when I’d see postings for post-docs at our universities offering salaries of $40-45K. That’s equivalent to what an BSc graduate can expect to earn in their first year post graduation. This is worse.
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That’s about what I made my first year as a lecturer. After earning ~$23K a year as a PhD student in Los Angeles, it actually seemed like a lot! (It’s amazing how quickly and completely your self-esteem and expectations can take a beating in grad school.)
This made today’s New York Times. Everyone should have access to this link: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/us/ucla-adjunct-professor-salary.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuomT1JKd6J17Vw1cRCfTTMQmqxCdw_PIxftm3iWka3DJDm4ciPkORJWL_06IbKZhet04w3GDXthPPaQ0Q-Y31eZbNlZ8DQm0p5_O0LI0HxIIk6PhFGUnw8CKGrki7T7hamT-eLl0zbfv50vDaWi5DbjY1id2OF1vp5Z6cFqp3CMIz_2SEed-ycA-ial6fu1yQj4BbSiPvuC5SEktfYXbMWyPr1U-SOpbWjrMnNOD6rxmcQ1aDF7OTn4X8n9roZoHe4tRZPCjWkZmLMnugrwRCXhqKJOrAfAzR4vSk7ZrtN3duJFJSAeY1k8l7OCQOhDWbp4&smid=url-share
To provide a bit more context, this is apparently a much more widespread issue than just at UCLA. It started, at least in California, around the time of the 2008 financial crisis. Sometimes people do it to get experience for their c.v., others hope that it will turn into a permanent appointment, others are doing another job and pressed into service or volunteer, not realizing that others get paid… It’s a sad article and makes me glad I stepped away from the path in academia.
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