MONEY. They say it can鈥檛 buy you happiness, and the Beatles didn鈥檛 care much for it because apparently it can鈥檛 buy you love either. But with the burden of student loans and the promise that more education leads to a fatter pay packet (see 鈥淗igher earnings鈥�), potential income is at the forefront of every graduate鈥檚 mind.
A professional scientist working in academia or industry pockets an average salary of 拢33,400 and can expect a starting salary of 拢21,000. The earnings curve is a little steeper as you rise in the ranks of industry (see 鈥淎verage salary鈥�), but when asked about benefits and promotion prospects, more scientists in academia routinely rate them as 鈥渆xcellent鈥� than their industry cohorts. Granted, they鈥檙e not the kind of numbers that lawyers, doctors and stockbrokers enjoy, but then again success and high wages are not one and the same (see 鈥淕raduate Special: Making a difference鈥�).
联21,000
Average graduate starting salary聰
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According to research carried out at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, economic success doesn鈥檛 buy you happiness either (see 鈥淕raduate Special: Finding Happiness鈥�). Nevertheless, you might like to see for yourself. There are literally millions to be made if you can parlay a good idea into an invention or a business. Just ask Mike Lynch, a University of Cambridge engineering graduate who started with 拢3000 and a good idea and is now the UK鈥檚 first software billionaire. Or you could make a quicker buck 鈥� if not an easy one 鈥� by way of sponsored contests (see 鈥淲ho wants to be a millionaire?鈥�). And if you like a real challenge, why not aim for a Nobel prize?
联45,000
Average salary after 20 years聰
Whatever you choose to do with your new qualifications, these pages should shed some light on the monetary rewards.
Careers 鈥� Find out how to make the most of your career in our comprehensive special report.