3 ms·

one of the biggest differences between academia and industry, in the context of salary, isn't just the salary per se but the increment in salary that is possibl

by plg 12y ago

one of the biggest differences between academia and industry, in the context of salary, isn't just the salary per se but the increment in salary that is possible. in academia your salary is very much fixed. no such thing as a bonus. you bring in a 3 million dollar research grant with an additional 2 million dollars in indirects (that go right into the University's pocket)? "thank you!" but your salary doesn't go up. no bonus for you.

_delirium 12y ago
It's actually quite common for people in academia to get a large raise if they bring in big grants in competitive areas, at least in the U.S. (in Europe it varies a lot by country). One mechanism is that you can pay yourself summer salary: official university salaries in the U.S. are 9-month salaries, and if you have a big grant, you can give yourself effectively a 33% bonus by becoming a full-time employee on the grant during the summer. (Many grants not only allow this, but require it.) The other mechanism is the same as in industry: get a raise by getting outside offers. A professor with a big new grant in a hot area, but a low-ish salary, is an attractive target for other universities to poach. The person can then either let themselves be poached, or present the offer to their university and ask for a retention counter-offer. Either way, a raise around ~$20-40k/yr is common in that case, although there is a bit of a soft cap on salaries, so raises are easier from lower starting points. A raise from $90k to $120k is easy-ish to negotiate, and a raise from $120k to $140-150k is fairly common for people with a high profile, but one pushing you much above $150k is difficult (and only a handful of superstars at top universities can get offers over $200k). If you do really need more than that, though, tenured professor in a science/engineering area is also a reasonably good platform to develop additional income streams (consulting, speaking gigs, etc.), if that's your thing, since the employment contracts are typically much more liberal on allowing that than is the norm in industry. Though imo that's not really the best use of the platform.
- plg 12y ago
  that's a good summary, the figures you quote are accurate the question is, then, what are the salary possibilities for a person with similar experience, stature in their chosen field of work, in the private sector? my guess is there is a large range but I wouldn't be surprised (from what I've heard from friends and colleagues) if the answer is, integer multiples of academic salaries (if not 10x) for example in Law, the equivalent of a tenured Full Professor at a large research-based university, might be a partner in a top law firm in the city they live in (a large city). or in medicine, a specialist at a major hospital or in engineering, a principle at a large engineering firm etc.
  - _delirium 12y ago
    In areas like medicine and law I can believe that's true. However I don't think it's that common in CS or engineering. I know quite a few people who've moved from academia to industry and vice versa, and the pay difference is definitely not 10x multiples. When a professor making low six figures jumps to Google, he or she gets a pay raise, but more like 20-50%, not 10x: Google isn't making $1m+ salary offers. For engineers afaict it varies by line of work. I don't know a lot about areas where being a principal is a thing (civil engineering?), but I can imagine those are lucrative. In areas like aerospace, if you compare full-professor salaries at research institutions, to senior engineering staff salaries at places like Lockheed, they're pretty comparable. If anything it's easier to make more in academia, because you can consult on the side, whereas big engineering companies typically disallow that in their employment contracts.

by plg 12y ago

_delirium 12y ago

It's actually quite common for people in academia to get a large raise if they bring in big grants in competitive areas, at least in the U.S. (in Europe it varies a lot by country). One mechanism is that you can pay yourself summer salary: official university salaries in the U.S. are 9-month salaries, and if you have a big grant, you can give yourself effectively a 33% bonus by becoming a full-time employee on the grant during the summer. (Many grants not only allow this, but require it.) The other mechanism is the same as in industry: get a raise by getting outside offers. A professor with a big new grant in a hot area, but a low-ish salary, is an attractive target for other universities to poach. The person can then either let themselves be poached, or present the offer to their university and ask for a retention counter-offer. Either way, a raise around ~$20-40k/yr is common in that case, although there is a bit of a soft cap on salaries, so raises are easier from lower starting points. A raise from $90k to $120k is easy-ish to negotiate, and a raise from $120k to $140-150k is fairly common for people with a high profile, but one pushing you much above $150k is difficult (and only a handful of superstars at top universities can get offers over $200k). If you do really need more than that, though, tenured professor in a science/engineering area is also a reasonably good platform to develop additional income streams (consulting, speaking gigs, etc.), if that's your thing, since the employment contracts are typically much more liberal on allowing that than is the norm in industry. Though imo that's not really the best use of the platform.

plg 12y ago
that's a good summary, the figures you quote are accurate the question is, then, what are the salary possibilities for a person with similar experience, stature in their chosen field of work, in the private sector? my guess is there is a large range but I wouldn't be surprised (from what I've heard from friends and colleagues) if the answer is, integer multiples of academic salaries (if not 10x) for example in Law, the equivalent of a tenured Full Professor at a large research-based university, might be a partner in a top law firm in the city they live in (a large city). or in medicine, a specialist at a major hospital or in engineering, a principle at a large engineering firm etc.
- _delirium 12y ago
  In areas like medicine and law I can believe that's true. However I don't think it's that common in CS or engineering. I know quite a few people who've moved from academia to industry and vice versa, and the pay difference is definitely not 10x multiples. When a professor making low six figures jumps to Google, he or she gets a pay raise, but more like 20-50%, not 10x: Google isn't making $1m+ salary offers. For engineers afaict it varies by line of work. I don't know a lot about areas where being a principal is a thing (civil engineering?), but I can imagine those are lucrative. In areas like aerospace, if you compare full-professor salaries at research institutions, to senior engineering staff salaries at places like Lockheed, they're pretty comparable. If anything it's easier to make more in academia, because you can consult on the side, whereas big engineering companies typically disallow that in their employment contracts.