Washington

Average starting salaries for chemistry PhDs in the United States take a dip. Credit: ACS

The wallets of newly qualified US chemists are getting lighter for the first time since the mid-1990s. The American Chemical Society's annual salary survey shows that the median salary for PhDs in 2002 has dropped $2,000, to $67,500.

Salaries for newly awarded PhDs have climbed steeply in recent years — they now earn around 50% more than those who qualified six years ago. But this year's fall in starting salaries suggests that the trend is changing, probably because the economic expansion of the 1990s has come to an end.

Median starting salaries of $71,000 for PhDs in industry is one reason that, overall, twice as many chemists are employed in the industrial sector as in research institutions. But large chemical companies such as DuPont and Dow aren't wooing newly qualified chemists any more, says Charles Casey, president-elect of the American Chemical Society. New chemists are more likely to start their careers with smaller companies, he says, a move that could account for the dip in salaries.

Hannah Bernstein, an assistant director of the Careers Office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), says that PhDs from MIT who might have gone on to industry or consulting in the past are now pursuing postdoctoral training. According to the society's survey, 47% of new masters were opting for further study in 2002, compared with 27% in 2000.

Bernstein contends that salaries are lower across all scientific disciplines. During the economic boom, companies had to offer large salaries and signing bonuses to be competitive and attract good candidates, she says, but now they offer less. “The overall economy may be the driver,” agrees Casey.