Why is a person with a Ph.D. unhappy that they are working doing "slave labor" as a post-doc making $40K

Question

when they could be working in a job that pays $8 an hour?

According to most responders, this person chose the wrong "field". Well, what if they didn't and are doing a post-doc in that field, why should they be unhappy?

Answer 1

A person with a PhD (in chemistry?) is probably worth way more than $40K. A BS chemist or chemical engineer can come fresh out of school with no experience and make $60K.

That being said, this person made a choice to get the PhD and do the post-doc. If it makes him/her unhappy -- stop it and get one of those jobs in industry. You won't be able to spend you time doing the most insteresting work, you will probably be doing things that are a lot more mundane. And you will have a lot less freedom of choice in your work. But that is the price of the salary.

Answer 2

No, they probably could not be doing a job worth $8 an hour; they would not be hired for being over-qualified.

A person with a Ph.D. grumbling because he earns no more than a person with a BA? I suppose he got into the wrong field, or otherwise has not made good use of his education. But it's not hard to see why he grumbles. After spending all that time, money and energy on an advanced degree, he's making less than some people who have no more than a bachelor's degree.

Of course, there are people with no education at all to speak of, and they make very big money. Prime athletes, musicians, performers of various sorts: the most successful make huge incomes, and their education is largely irrelevant.

Answer 3

I think that education became more affordable for wider part of society, and less elitary (not to mention of plummeting level... recent article in Business Week or Times on prosperity of colleges lowering bars). Many people going to grad school believe that its accomplishment will buy them a great job and salary in the future. But surprisingly, the market has saturated... Well, you need one head to manage many parts. Too many heads is excessive. Unless you are creative, have some really good idea of what and how to do all you got is whining of being PhD with 40k.

Go for PhD if you have a good idea of what you want to achieve (other than JUST a degree). Otherwise, go to work. Get the company pay your tuition. By the time you would finish your degree, say 5-8 years, you will have gained experience needed to start your salary at least 40k.

Answer 4

For the last several years, the chemistry market has been saturated, mainly with biology majors who couldn't get into medical school and seek out the chemist positions. This glut has driven down the salaries for true chemists, and it is frustrating.

Everyone sees the salary surveys while in school, and then expects to make that the moment they step out the door. Labor, like any other commodity, is subject to the laws of supply and demand.

I have a bachelors in chemistry and supposedly it's worth almost $40K fresh from graduation. A PhD is supposedly worth closer to $80K. Most bachelor degree chemists are fortunate to make $13-14 an hour. Whoever thinks that we can walk out the door and start making $60K with a bachelors is sadly mistaken.

Although I do have a friend with a HS diploma who just got back from working two years for AAFES as a cashier in Iraq at $120,000 per year. Yes, that is correct, $10,000 per month or $120,000 per year.

Like I said, supply and demand.

Answer 5

Because the $8 job is for someone whith a GED. A Ph.D is worth more than $40K. The expense of school alone cost them over $100K! $40K is about right as an entry level job for someone with a bacclaureat, depending on their degree. Some degrees for a bachelors starts much higher than this. It really IS slave labor for a Ph.D!

Answer 6

Because it takes a whole lot of freakin work to get a Ph. D. and it costs most likely a whole lot more than $40K so you would at least want to get back the amount you paid to educate yourself.
$40K these days is pocket change considering how utterly ridiculous real estate prices have gotten and everything else.
I only have a BS degree in Computer science and after 8 years still make just a little more than 40K and I still have $25K outstanding in loans. Yeah, life sucks. And we can thank the greedy CEOs for outsourcing tons of work to places like India to people who are willing to work for 50 cents/hour, but don't have to pay a mortgage or rent over a thousand per month. Yeah you can go ahead and work for $8 and try to raise a family on that and call people like us lazy or "complainers", but we've worked our fingers off getting those degrees and now they're not worth as much because we are asked to compete at wages that are not enough to put food in our kids mouths and pay for health insurance for our spouses.

Answer 7

Because they went to all that school and they think they "deserve better." Yeah, and what about all the other PhDs out there who need jobs, hmmm? There's a lot of competition for a few great jobs, a few more OK jobs, and quite a few not-so-great jobs.

Slave labor isn't really defined as $40K a year and good experience. I'm pretty sure slave labor involves hoeing, breaking rocks, whippings, and the like. For no pay. With no education. Whiny b!tches.

I knew a guy who had spent 8 years and counting on a PhD because he was afraid of getting out in the real world and having to face his massive college debts (over $80K from a fancy-shmancy institute that rhymes with Shmim-Shmi-Shmee.) At least they got their degrees and are out there making some money. Strange that PhDs, who are supposedly well-educated, are oblivious to the fact that the job market is lame and evil and has few opportunities for fantastic jobs. Is it denial, or did they just not go over that in school? Out in the real world, people are well aware that it's tough to get jobs and you have to do some grunt work to pay your dues like nearly everybody else (unless you have connections or something, but who has those?) Boo-hoo! I hear the world's smallest violin playing for them...

Answer 8

Usually because most PhD's make more thatn $40k..
They just chose the wrong field of study..

Answer 9

They have done many years of hard work for little money and have developed talents well beyond what most people can do. Contrast that with some people who have done little of anything and make a good deal more.