Monday, January 30, 2012

Is someone who has a phD in physics but only makes 20$/hour underpaid?

They work for a government research lab, and have no hopes for raises/promotions in the next 15-20 years of work. They did 10 years of schooling after high-school (4 years undergrad, 2 years masters, 4 years phD) and they are in a ton of debt. Would you say that this person is underpaid? What other career opportunities do they have? The embarrassing thing is, his brother who is a Mcdonalds manager and only with a high-school diploma, earns more than he does as a physicist.Is someone who has a phD in physics but only makes 20$/hour underpaid?
Yes. He has applied for and taken a job that he was over qualified for and because he was probably by far the best candidate they were happy to hire him. He has lots of options available to him such as doing research with a private company where he would be paid on par with others that have the same credentials or he could pursue teaching on the college level. Both would be much higher paying jobs with job tenure, promotion potential, bonuses etc. This gov. job could just be an entry level job he is taking while he is looking the ladder up for something else, but he could still be earning more for what he is qualified to do.Is someone who has a phD in physics but only makes 20$/hour underpaid?
These days it is right. Out here in CO we have masters and phds working at Einstein Bagels.

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