Jay Mone' wrote:
> Philip,
>> I have many students who ask me this type of question. The answer
> depends on what you want to do. I have worked with many bench
> technologists who are responsible for the day to day experimentation
> which underlies all of research. These are the people actuall doing
> the experiments, and occasionally authoring papers. What these
> individuals usually don't do are design the experiments, or lay out
> the long range research plans and directions. In other words, they do
> a lot of the work, but don't have the responsibility for writing
> grants, etc. Unfortunately, they don't make great money (<25K/yr.)
> If you want the opportunity for higher salary, you take on much more
> responsibility. You also need a PhD. The question is, how much
> responsibility do you want? Research environments are very
> competitive, and grants are harder to get every year. Currently, NIH
> rejects about two thirds of the applications it recieves. If your
> position depends on that grant, it can be a very stressful time.
> Also, once you get a PhD, you really can't go back without people
> wondering about you. Be careful in your decision. It might be a good
> idea to get you BS, then work in a research lab for 1 or 2 years to
> see what the environment is like. You'll be in a much better position
> to make rational decisions then.
>> Good Luck
>> Jay Mone' PhD
> Millersville University
Perfectly worded! I have my BS and work in research with several PhD's
who hardly make much more money (considering their extra years of
education) and they have 5x the amount of responsibility and work. I
personally couldn't justify going on for a PhD when I see so much
competition for such low paying positions. For those who are satisified
with the content of the career, then it is worth every extra year of
education, if your looking for money, go into computers!
