One college professor advises students who want to go into academics to be exceptional in their field. Some high school chemistry instructors who have Ph.D.s tend to be older, but tend to earn the same salary as their counterparts with an M.S. degree. The vast majority of college and university chemistry educators hold a Ph.D. Their salaries generally rise with rank and differ by length of contract, work function, and type of institution. Public and private institutions tend to have similar pay scales. One of the largest differences in academic pay is from length of contract.
Academics doing research at a Ph.D. granting institution tend to earn the highest salaries.
They are more apt to supplement their salaries by consulting than chemists in any other type of employment. The chemists who teach as their primary function in industry tend to hold Ph.D.s and are few in number. Any exposure to working faculty members is a good way to begin understanding their jobs to determine if teaching is the right profession for you. In college, you may be able to get a job as a lab assistant or a teaching assistant or get involved in tutoring programs. Some colleges offer tutoring for local high school students.