My View of Careers in Science
Shelley McRae
School of Science, Griffith University
I think everyone has some expectation in their early years of where they will be in life at the age of 30. For me I thought I would have a stable job, financial security and a family of my own. What I actually have is a degree and a HECS debt. In the next 12 months I will have my PhD in biochemistry and I am contemplating what to do with my science career and what science has to offer me.
I have worked hard since I was seventeen years old. I did not go straight to university after high school but worked for a short time, then decided that a career in science was for me. Like most students, I worked casual jobs on weekends and nights during my degree and joined the army reserve to earn money during my holidays. At the end of my degree I had a first class honours but no superannuation, little savings, no assets and a debt to the government for my efforts. I considered it worth it because I was working toward a career that I found interesting and exciting and I would one day be able to find a well-paid, stable job.
After completing my honours I was granted a university scholarship with a CRC top-up which came to $23 000 per year tax free, not a bad income. Unfortunately, when I tried to buy a small house I was informed by the bank that although my income was enough to satisfy a loan for the house I wanted, because it was described as a “scholarship” I was not eligible according to the mortgage insurers guidelines. My tax-free scholarship income does not count according to the banks nor does it give me any superannuation.
When I finish my PhD, if I decide to pursue an academic research career, I will need to apply for short-term postdoctoral positions. To work my way up to a lectureship, I expect to spend 3-5 years working in these short-term contracts, to achieve tenure even longer and, with government spending cuts to science, maybe never. I also need to be willing to relocate to different cities or even countries while I am doing post-doctoral work. So when in this fabulous science career will I have the opportunity to build a superannuation fund or buy a home? When I am 35 or perhaps 40 years old?
To add to the dilemma, when do I have a family? The pressures of doing a PhD are not really conducive to having a family and I congratulate those who do it. But if not during my PhD then when? Faced with another 6 years of financial insecurity and instability in post-doctoral positions, there seems to be no room for family in the near future.
Science is a stressful, competitive environment and to be a part of the academic community you need to be willing to devote at least 7-9 years of your young life to achieving the basic entry qualifications (PhD). Having achieved that, you will have most likely accumulated a debt and the right to apply for a job in which you will probably be paid between $10 and $15 dollars an hour. You will be expected to work on weekends and at night and not get paid for it and if you don’t like it, your contract is so short that you will be replaced soon anyway.
Science is not all doom and gloom. It has a great deal to offer to a lot of people but while funding becomes more and more difficult to secure and jobs are transient and poorly paid for the skills required, it does not seem worth it to give up or put off a family and financial security. So, I am off to do a diploma of education and earn a steady wage in a secure job with good superannuation and cheap home loan options and the ten years of training I have just completed will leave the scientific community.
Editor’s comment: I disagree with Shelly on one point – her knowledge and abilities will not be lost to the scientific community, but will contribute to an arguably even more important level of education – school. WR