Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Survey: Mass. academic life science salaries among nation's lowest

By Julie M. Donnelly, Boston Business Journal

A survey by The Scientist magazine has found that while Massachusetts scientists enjoy some of the highest salaries in the country at biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device companies, the state’s academic salaries are among the worst.

For industry salaries, Massachusetts ranked second among a group of the 11 biggest life sciences clusters in the country, with a median salary of $124,000. In first place was Pennsylvania, with a median salary of $132,000. For scientist salaries at non-profit research organizations and hospitals, Massachusetts again scored near the top of the heap, coming in third with an average salary of $113,000, behind Washington state with a median of $117,000 and North Carolina with a median of $115,000.

But when it comes to professor jobs, Massachusetts was second from the bottom, with a median salary of only $64,000, just above Washington state with a median salary of $62,000.

The survey revealed a number of other interesting nationwide trends. For instance, the chasm between compensation for men and women scientists increases as each attains more education, according to the survey. Women with Master’s degrees in science or engineering make a median salary of $51,000 to a median of $54,000 made by men with the same degrees. But for scientists with both an MD and a Phd, the men surveyed made a median income of $156,000 versus a median of $68,000 salary for the women surveyed with the same educational background.

The survey included responses from 4,665 participants nationwide.