They say money isn’t everything, but it’s difficult to remember that when you have student loans, a car loan, vet bills, etc, and your credit card debt grows on a regular basis. I make under $40k, at least for the 2006-07 fiscal year. There are secretaries in the dept who make more. Education doesn’t mean everything, but how can a PhD make less than someone without a bachelor’s degree? I’m not saying they should make less, I’m saying we’re worth a lot more. After all, doesn’t spending more than a decade to earn a BS, MS, and PhD account for something? Think about that – 10 additional years after high school, which is when these secretaries stopped their education.
Being in my 30s and owing almost $100k in student loans, not to mention the 5-figure credit card debt, it’s difficult to be happy with the way things are. What’s wrong with our society when a scientist, who has worked so hard to earn that degree, can’t make enough to start a family?
Adventures of a Postdoc 