In the four years that Spectroscopy has conducted this survey, only one thing is for certain - things change. For more specific information about the current state of the spectroscopy industry, please see our Industry Trends report on page 26 of this issue. Men in the spectroscopy industry were older than women, averaging 46.71 years and 41.15 years respectively. The mean number of years of experience for our respondents was 18.83. Female spectroscopists tended to have less experience in their field, which corresponds to the lower average age and lower compensation levels noted earlier.
Spectroscopy is a varied industry, and our respondents specialized in some very different fields.
Job titles for our respondents also covered a whole spectrum of positions. The Spectroscopy 2001 Salary and Employment Survey is the result of a sample selected on a random basis from the magazine s circulation list, with 2000 questionnaires mailed on 12 December 2000 to subscribers. Charities that respondents could select were the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and the AIDS Foundation. Michelle Nicolson is the senior editor of Spectroscopy.