In the US, most professors are part time adjunct and get no health benefits. Probably make 30-50k.
Tenured faculty at major universities make 70-90k.
Considering these jobs requires at least 9 years of uni (in the US), the lifetime income of professors is still very low.
RE TAs: I US stem fields TAs work 20h and make 15-30k. That usually includes free tuition, but not in all states (e.g. in Texas, you sometimes pay tuition out of your TA pay, which is crazy)
When I left academia to go to the private sector, I got a 40% bump in pay, and worked at least 30% less. And I didn’t have to write grants to support my program. When I was an academic, I thought people never came back to academia from the private sector because they couldn’t. I quickly found out that it was because they’d have to be crazy to come back. I wouldn’t have returned to the university for anything less than an endowed chair. And that was NOT going to happen.
TAs work 20h and make 15-30k.
That’s time spent teaching. They are also expected to do research with the rest of their time, which is more work.
Librarian.
In sweden it needed 4 or 5 (or 4.5?) years of uni, only to have a hard time even getting a job, a job paying really low.
Same in Canada. Good choice.
Teaching, 100%. Incredibly important, some of the most dedicated people in any field, and they’re paid peanuts. Oh yeah, and they work like 12 hours a day. The way we treat them is a disgrace.
Hurr durr they get off two months, they’re fine
To the gulag with you
In North Carolina, most teachers have been required to have their Masters degree and additional training, but average less than 30k in my area. Some only make 17k a year.
Teachers for sure. Highly educated people providing a service that’s absolutely crucial for everybody and they’re paid like shit even before you consider the number of out-of-work hours they end up working.
It’s the worst of all angles… Professions where the professional loves the work and wants to do the work no matter what get exploited more than most AND with public school teachers, they’re stuck with taxpayer decided budgets…
As far as America goes: I WANT EVERYTHING AND I DON’T WANT TO PAY TAXES FOR IT!
That may only be western teachers. One of my family has been living in Sweden and teaching yr5 (only) for about 22 years. I’m pretty sure
- the state pays for supplies, but I know she doesn’t
- she pretty much has the lesson plan set, with some evolution each year
- swedish kids aren’t total assholes as they have support for some of the big causes of assholish kids (unaddressed learning issues)
- she’s good to retire in three years. Already has a little boat!
She got her ticket in Canada and bounced around a bit until she landed this gig. Couldn’t be happier for her.
Unfortunately not a more universal experience :( here in the UK teachers are treated like crap
Musician. I have 7 years of university level studies and 12 years of work experience, and I make less than median salary in Sweden.
start your own label
Not that kind of musician. I work in a opera orchestra.
Well, start your orchestra label, mate. Pioneer the s#!t out of it
I’m guessing you are joking but I’m not really sure. Point is, I educated myself for a really long time and then I won a position in an orchestra, and my salary is now very low, in comparison. There are other benefits though so I’m not really complaining.
Yea, I was just messing with you.
I do hope your happy tho 🙂
Teachers in the US. Hands down.
I call your “teacher” and raise it to “social worker”.
I’ve heard zoo keeper can be insanely competitive just to get a $0 internship or even pay money to work there and then the real jobs are also poverty level to work with animals.
Not the lowest, for sure, but I’m going to put my hat in for auto technicians. Master techs can make over $100K in southern New England but the cost of tools can easily rival college tuition by the time you’re a master tech. Everything except proprietary equipment and the car lift needs to be bought by the technician, which can cost thousands of dollars. Health insurance is prohibitively expensive, the flat rate pay system means you only get paid when you complete jobs, and it’s an ergonomic nightmare because you’re picking up heavy objects and working in cramped areas all day.
As someone who whose fiance was a mechanic until last year, I think it’s really disingenuous to hear so many people say that the trades are your fast track to making money. Very little of that $150/ hr that you pay goes to the person working on your car. For every lift the shop has they’re taking 80% or more off the top of that $150/ hr, and if the job takes longer than expected the mechanic doesn’t make any more money. In fact they’re losing money because they’re stuck figuring out a solution instead of moving on to the next car.
And don’t even get me started on tool loans. It’s straight up worse than student loans because they’re classified as personal loans. My student loans all hover around 5% interest, but right now personal loans go up to 18% depending on the term. The only saving grace I can think of is that they’re usually dischargeable in bankruptcy.
I really could go on all day about how broken it all is because I’ve lived it secondhand for a while now, and now that I’m trying to gain more of these skills for my classic motorcycle hobby it’s all so obvious. Not sure if the other trades like plumbing and welding have the same “take out loans to pay for tools to make money to pay for the loans, then learn more skills within the trade to make more money, and then take out more loans for tools to do the more advanced work” cycle but no one ever mentions this when they talk about how this kind of work is so lucrative.
Don’t get me wrong, college is really badly overpriced in the US, but the trades absolutely can be just as expensive once you’ve made it your career. And I don’t want to dissuade people from considering it as a career, either, but it’s a monetary risk that you need to really sit down and calculate before you take the plunge, just like college.
Social work. It’s criminal.
As an ex social worker in Sweden (both as a case officer and treatment assistant), I can attest to the low pay, garbage benefits (if any) and extremely stressful work.
And the horrifying things you have to see, especially child protection.
Librarians from what I’ve heard. They usually require a masters degree but the pay usually doesn’t reflect that.
Which is crazy, because it widely depends on the district.
You could be in rurals-ville, FlyoverState, USA and make a pittance. (Oh plus BTW, the excitement of torches and pitchforks coming for you, your staff, and your collection. Politicians also attempting to undermine the entire institution of libraries for strategic mob-outrage points. Ah, perks!)
Or in some urban areas that are well-funded, librarians and especially branch managers are paid stupidly well. Their jobs mostly being general management duties, listening to the complaints of the insane and unreasonable, tresspassing the insane and unreasonable, and answering “Do you work here? Where’s the bathroom?” Of course, that’s when they’re not stuck in pointless meetings.
Lots of stress sometimes. But BMs make low six-figures. I imagine there’s worse jobs.
But it’s one of those things where a spot usually opens up only if someone moves, retires, or expires.
Postdoc
Did you mean a slave who has recently graduated to indentured servant status?
Philosopher
“Look at this asshole, learning how the world works. MAKE HIM SERVE COFFEE WITH THE REST OF THEM”
But why?
Veterinarians
Not the expert in Cat Nephrology that I have to take my cat every other month. Always fully booked and it costs more than my doctor just for her to look at blood tests. srsly 5min. The tests itself are not included
There’s no way it costs more than your doctor. You are either glossing over what your insurance is paying for you, or your doctor is seeing you in a back alley somewhere.
Also, you’re not paying for the vet’s time spent looking at bloodwork, which I actually do believe is 5 minutes. You’re paying for the 4 years of undergrad, 4 years of medical school, (and if they’re truly a specialist) several years of residency and being boarded, plus many hours of specialized continuing education per year.
Private equity firms have been buying veterinary offices at an increased rate since 2020 and jacking up rates, especially in high COL areas so I’m not surprised. My dog needed a tooth extracted at the end of last year and the cost was just under $1000. I understand there are highly trained individuals working there that need to be paid appropriately but I wonder what the cost for me to have one tooth extracted would be?
Agreed on the private equity firms shit, I’ve worked at 2 such hospitals and they’ve been hell. They’re most assuredly not passing those increased prices along to the employees in form of wage increases, I’ll tell you that.
Also, that tooth extraction is a choice to use as a comparison. I’ve never had to be anesthetized for my extractions, but good luck doing that on an awake dog, so of course costs are going to be high. Anesthestizing you for your dentistry would cost way way more than it does now, and certainly more tgan your dog’s.
Social worker?
Highly dependent on the job. I’m a SW who hires SWs. New grad LMSWs can start at $60K in hospitals or some government jobs, or $40K in schools or some nonprofits. 5-10 years of experience and a clinical license and you’ll easily pull $75-80K, or $90K+ in management.
Then there’s private psychotherapy practice, which I know some people who charge $200/hour out of pocket and are scheduled out for months.
All this to say getting a master’s in social work was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, and I have no regrets financially.
Biology, unless you go into health related stuff.
