Scientists' salaries rise with demand

Salaries for science graduates have grown strongly in the past year, and the pattern is set to continue as the demand for scientists in crucial fields like water and climate change grows, a survey has found.

The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers 2007 survey of scientists' remuneration found that the growth in the base median salaries of graduates was higher than the increase for scientists overall.

For graduates, the median salary rose by 6.1 per cent to $48,250 over the past 12 months. For all professional scientists, the salary growth was 5.3 per cent, up from 4.8 per cent in 2005.

The mining boom and increased importance of environmental issues benefited graduate salaries.

The areas of geology/geosciences and environmental sciences were the most lucrative for new graduates, where median salaries were $52,500 and $50,459 respectively.

The acting chief executive of APESMA, Erin Wood, said that across the board, employment prospects for technology professionals such as scientists and engineers were very good.

"We do expect strong salary increases to continue in the future, particularly in areas of high demand," she said.

Ms Wood said there would be no shortage of opportunities for science graduates in future as society grappled with complex problems to do with water resources and global warming.

"We're in the context of a society with a high level of demand for scientists to assist us with water management, power management . . . in this environment of doing things a lot smarter," she said. "We can go forward and be more efficient and manage climate change. We can see science has a real critical role to play in all that."

Ms Wood cited survey statistics that showed salaries in the mining sector had risen by 6.6 per cent over the past year, and said this salary growth could soon hit the 7 per cent mark.

Scientists' salaries in the consulting and technical services area rose by 5.5 per cent, and in the pharmaceutical sector they rose by 5.4 per cent.

At the highest professional level, the base median salaries of scientists fell to $158,500 in 2007 from $165,000 in 2005.

For scientists with less than one year's experience, workers with a PhD earned about $8600 more than their counterparts with a bachelor's degree, taking home median base salaries of $57,633.

For those with one to three years' experience, those with a PhD earned $14,000 more.

The numbers of scientists holding tertiary qualifications in a field other than science was steady at about 33 per cent.

Published: 29 October 2007