Since I got an email announcing the "new" APA website, I thought that 
I would go over and check it out.  Of course, one of the more irresistable 
features is the salary reviews.  One table, a grouped frequency table 
with 9-10 month salary bands in the rows and a combined "Rank/Years 
in Position" variable for columns. A PDF of the table is available at:

http://www.apa.org/workforce/publications/10-fac-sal/table-03.pdf

The frequencies in the table follow a particular pattern which might be
of some interest to describe (e.g., it is a somewhat "sparse" matrix with
a fair number of cells having zero [represented by blank cells]).  It may
also be of interest to psych majors who are interested in their "earning
potential" if they enter academia.  Wow, just look!  An assistant professor
with less than 3 years in their rank can earn over *$100,000* for 9-10
months of work!  I guess they can use that 2-3 months off, presumably
over the summer, to rest up in France or some other delightful locations
in order to decompress from the stresses of the school year.

Then again, it might also be worthwhile to point out that there are many
more people in the same rank and time but earning less than $44,000.
Indeed, it might be a hard dose of reality to see how many people in
academia are earning less than $50,000, including a full professor with
24+ years in that rank.

Of course, this also serves as a wonderful opportunity to point out that
these numbers have to take into account additional factors such as whether
one in working within the psychology department of a research university
or other units of a university.  Let's not forget the difference between
colleges with graduate programs versus 4-year teaching colleges.  And
we should fit in the community college salaries somewhere.

One peculiarity of the APA's reporting of salary is that it is set for an
academic year or period instead of payment per hour worked which
makes it difficult to compare to other pay scales, such as this one which
is provided by U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; see:
http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/distribution_table.htm

I believe that a per hour rates is typically quoted for adjuncts but I did
not find material on the APA website for adjuncts or part-time faculty --
please point it out if it is there.  At the City Univeristy of New York (CUNY)
the faculty union (PSC) does publish hourly rates for adjuncts and
yearly rates for full-time faculty and staff.  For adjuncts up to the year
2007, see:

http://www.psc-cuny.org/Salary/AdjunctSeries.htm

For complete salary information for CUNY personnel, covering
the "new" contract from 2007-2010, see:

http://www.psc-cuny.org/SalarySchedules.htm

Some private colleges in NYC pay adjuncts significantly higher
amounts while some private colleges pay significantly less.
Whether there are any benefits (e.g., medical, retirement contribution,
etc.) depends upon the institution one works for, ranging from no
benefits to signficant benefits.

Perhaps this data is not as interesting as the 100 richest people in
the U.S. but it might be more informative to students about how they
should guage their career expectations.  One additional source to look
at is the "Household Income in the U.S." entry in Wikipedia (standard
disclaimers apply) though more recent data is probably available from
governmental sources; see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States

-Mike Palij
New York University
[email protected] 







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