Closing the salary gap is the way to give science the wow factor

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE:A NEW CAMPAIGN is underway in the UK to show people how science benefits their everyday lives and how it is crucial to the economy and to meeting major challenges of our time. Despite all the efforts put into building a public understanding of science, a recent UK poll showed that half the population feels that, in the words of the UK science minister Lord Drayson, "science is too clever for them, or elitist in some way".

The new campaign aims to attract more young people into science careers, which continues to be a big problem. To date, public campaigns aimed at attracting young people into science here have presented a fatally incomplete message. They rightly emphasise the intrinsic fascination of science but do not complement this by demonstrating that scientific careers are well paid, hold a high status and are available to those who are prepared to work hard. A senior academic once advised me on the way to attract young people into science: “Emphasise the wow factor and tell them science is fun.” But this is an inadequate message. Science is fascinating and greatly satisfying, but only after you have first invested hard work in it. If you encourage young people into science with promises of fun, without explaining the hard work, many will leave again when they encounter the hard graft. And the way to sweeten the hard-work pill is to offer the prospect of a well-paid, high-status and interesting career at the end of the demanding training.

I am convinced that the main reason for the difficulty in attracting the brightest young people into science is the general perception that secure, well-paid and high-status careers in science are not readily available. But as science is critically important to the economy, we can no longer afford this perception. The plentiful availability of well-paid jobs in science must be clearly demonstrated to the general public and, at the highest level, these jobs must be very well paid indeed. Science must rival medicine, law and business studies in this respect. In my ideal world, a pitch to attract young people into science would be: (a) Science is fascinating; (b) Science is important, and the world runs on science-based technology; (c) Science careers are high-status and well paid, and the most successful scientists earn very desirable salaries indeed.

Science can presently tick off (a) and (b) but not (c). On the other hand, medicine can tick off (a) but not (b), and, most importantly, it can tick off (c) with a resounding flourish. Related to this, there is intense competition to enter medicine but not to enter science.

Sadly, we are making little progress along the path I am advocating. A piece by Seán Flynn in The Irish Timeson March 20th, headed "Top academics under pressure over salary scales", described the case, amongst others, of scientist Prof Des Fitzgerald, vice-president for research at UCD, who was reported to earn a salary of more than €400,000. He must be the highest-paid scientist in Ireland, as most are paid salaries of less than €100,000. Fitzgerald's salary received much negative comment in the media. But the amazing thing, given the focus on academic salaries, is that there was no media comment on an entire category of academics in our universities whose incomes rival Fitzgerald's and who have always enjoyed such relatively high incomes (big money for vice-presidents for research is a very recent development). I refer to the salaries of €246,093 paid to clinical medical professors, many of whom have significant additional income from private medical practice. To put these salaries further into context, the president of UCD earns a salary of €220,000. And we all know that Mary Harney, Minister for Health, is urging all new medical consultants to sign new medical contracts for salaries of €240,000 that easily top up to €300,000.

We are so psychologically conditioned to very high medical salaries that we never think to comment on them, and we are so unaccustomed to the idea of big salaries in science that the one scientist in Ireland who earns money that rivals medical money creates media headlines and disapproving head-shaking. And, until the recent crisis, who ever questioned the huge amounts paid to senior executives in the banking and business worlds?

I am not condemning the big money in medicine, or in other areas. The absolute size of these incomes is a different debate. My problem is with the gap between salaries in science and salaries/income in medicine and other areas. Until this gap is significantly narrowed science will not attract its fair share of our brightest students. Wow and fun won’t cut the mustard on their own.

William Reville is associate professor of biochemistry and public awareness of science officer at UCC – understandingscience.ucc.ie