Aashima asked me the other day whether I'm happy with it? Her words were basically "I know how you were, atleast back in Bombay - you liked to go out, have fun. Doesn't this lifestyle of saving up and scrounging bother you a bit?". YES it does - but it's something that I have to go through to do what I like to do. I love doing my work and I work my butt off doing it. I'm in the lab 7 days a week for atleast 6-7 hours. While I'm not in the lab, I'm thinking about my science. Why don't we get paid more? I don't know - I should find out. Perhaps because we're not responsible for billions of dollars (ok maybe millions) and our returns to the general public take a while longer. It definitely is not our skill set because in our fields, we're the most skilled. What about diversity in the skill sets - I'm going to say scientists and grad students in the biological sciences tend to be one of the most diverse people ; we know our field amazingly well, we can crunch numbers, we can learn computer programs if we have to without much difficulty. What I'm trying to say is that we should get paid more than we currently do - but that situation is unlikely to change.
I would love to know from my finance and banker friends why they get paid more? One reason that I can think of is that as "non-students" they are liable for everything they do and the bigger the responsibility the higher the pay. Fair enough. Anything else? Help me out here?
Finally - I hate it when people (and my friends included) treat the students almost like annoying flies. "Oh you're only a student - you can wake up late!" WTF? If I wake up late, I'm in lab until later. And when I have barbeques in the evenings, chilling I've heard from the "non-students" - WOW you are living the life. The hell I am - I can't afford to go out so I'm chilling here grilling.
This is not a rant - it's just something that I want to try and understand myself. What dictates salary and stipends. Are advanced degrees worth it ? Why doesn't everyone just get paid by the hour..
The ONLY people who are paid well are folks in medicine and finance. And even in the former, I'm quite certain that its an elite group of private doctors who really make all the money.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that the number of hours you work has ANYTHING to do with how much money you make. Nor does the effort you put in. The number of degrees you accumulate shifts the number slightly but only up to a certain point. What matters is the product
The product- How tangible are the direct products of your occupation and whats the speed of delivering them. If you can show that what you do produces a quick, tangible and fairly non-complicated result you will earn more.
Doctor-"You will be fine (or not)." Immediate results for most cases, easy to understand result, tangible for sure.
Scientist- "If this research is successful, we will be able to cure diabetes." Tangible? No because unless I have diabetes I don't care. Immediate? Usually not, the R & D process being laboriously long. Easy to understand. No. Most people do not understand science at that level.
Broker- "Give me Rs. 500 and I will give you Rs. 700 in 12 months."
You get the drift.
Yup. You're right. Didn't think of it. Pilots, Trainers, Chefs (Do they get paid a lot..they should !), Actors - wonder why carpenters, plumbers, cleaners, etc don't make that much. Service providers should get paid a lot.
ReplyDeleteWhy do doctors get paid so much?
ReplyDeleteLets see...the sequence of events :
1. Receptionist - takes my insurance; check me in etc.. - their salary - paid by hour $15
2. Medical Assistant - who takes your vitals - is he/she important? they have responsibility - what do they get paid after going to school at night time etc. - $15-10 / hr.
3. Nurse - takes notes on the visit and few more vitals etc.. - salary - not nearly enough.
5. AFTER ABOUT 2-3 hours. "Doctor" shows up - just asking the same questions that the other have asked. - barely spends few minutes scribling something or just "signing" something - what do they get paid -$100-200 / hr.
Wait we are not done yet.
Your blood work results - the MEDICAL TECHNOLOGISTS - they have to explain and TEACH the results to the so called DOCTORS.
I could go on....
SO.. in the end - WHY IS THE DOCTOR in the HEALTH SYSTEM get so $ when other professionals are equally important.
WHY HAS NOT THE HEALTH CARE REFORM ADDRESSED THE SALARIES OF people instead of JUST being STUCK ON INSURANCE??
"I can't afford to go out so I'm chilling here grilling".
ReplyDeleteSometimes I can't even afford the grilling :P And yeah, sometimes when I see friends in other fields all "settled", and I'm still "in school", I have to wonder what makes it worth it at the end of the day.