Diversity Research - Employment Preferences and Salary Expectations of Students in the Life Sciences

What kinds of work places are current life sciences students willing to work in? What kinds of salaries do they expect to earn upon graduation? How well do the salary expectations of life sciences students match the reality of the job market? Do white and minority life sciences students have similar work preferences and salary expectations? This article will examine these issues by analyzing data from a national study of college students in life science fields conducted by the author. The paper finds that students express a willingness to work in a variety of institutional settings upon graduation and that their salary expectations are comparable to what employers are paying new graduates. However, the study also found racial and gender differences in workplace preferences and salary expectations.

Source: Dorceta E. Taylor. 2007. “Employment Preferences and Salary Expectations of Students in Science and Engineering,” BioScience. 57, 2(February): 175-185.

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