Although this is the lowest expected increase of professions identified by the BLS in the industry, chemists should remain the largest single group of professionals in the pharmaceutical industry. Attitudes toward fair pay, professional advancement, and managerial advancement. Salary versus number of years since B.S. degree and highest degree. Attitudes One of the most interesting aspects of the ACS survey is the responses to questions about job satisfaction and job potential. The lower expectations of this group may have less to do with workplace inequalities than with the challenge of developing good managerial skills.
Management is a much more subjective ability than technical expertise.
Men were slightly more positive than women about fair pay as well as their prospects for professional and managerial advancement. The ACS survey results show that the salary gap between B.S. and M.S. chemists is widening, as seen in Figure 4. M.S. chemists who have worked 15 years or more since earning their B.S. see smaller monetary differences between their salaries and those of B.S. chemists. M.S. chemists have become more valued by employers, as they now often obtain an M.S. while working. M.S. degrees are no longer seen as failed attempts to earn a Ph.D., and pay has increased accordingly.