• Question: Is there a downside to being a scientist?

    Asked by elsieexo to Carolyn, Peter, Richard, Sara, Siana on 18 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Siana Jones

      Siana Jones answered on 18 Nov 2015:

      It’s perhaps not the best career if you want to get very rich. :/

    • Photo: Richard Unwin

      Richard Unwin answered on 18 Nov 2015:

      Hi Elsie,

      As Siana said, it doesn’t pay well, it’s not glamorous and its sometimes very hard and frustrating and can take over your life at times. But it’s also very rewarding, varied and challenging – I’d say it has more pluses than minuses (but I’m biased, of course!)

    • Photo: Sara Falcone

      Sara Falcone answered on 18 Nov 2015:

      Totally agree with Siana.
      If you want to be rich don’t work in science. I guess that the upside is that you have people who work because they really like what they do and not for the pay.

    • Photo: Carolyn Nielsen

      Carolyn Nielsen answered on 18 Nov 2015:

      Hi Elsie,

      Being a scientist is definitely not going to pay as well as being an investment banker or a job like that, but senior scientists at universities and especially at commercial companies can get paid pretty well. It’s just quite competitive to get to those positions.

      For me the pros definitely outweigh the cons, but I think the main downside is that you spend a very long time trying to understand a very specific problem. Sometimes it can be difficult to remember that it is part of a bigger picture and that all scientific contributions add up, even when they are individually little pieces of the puzzle! I think I might eventually move out of research to do a more policy-related job, like advising governments how to deal with infectious diseases, but my science and research background will be really important and useful there.

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