My husband has a PhD in neuroscience, masters in artificial intelligence and bachelors in computer science and works for one of the top public universities in the United States as a researcher. I did the math and based on how many hours he works per year he now makes about $6 per hour less than McDonalds advertises their starting wages at. To make things worse the president just emailed everyone saying due to inflation they won’t be getting a pay increase this year—-yet the cost of tuition they charge the students is going up. Welcome to america where a Big Mac is valued more than curing a brain disease.
Edit- because of the comments I’m getting i just want to add that this is not unique to him. All universities have a pretty standard pay scale for the time he’s working and what other work regardless of the university’s ranting, location, etc. He isn’t unique in how little he is paid. And his hourly wage comparison is based on his annual salary divided by the number of hours per year/week he works snd how it compares to that of a fast food worker wage I’ve seen advertised some places. You could also say it’s less than what Targets started wages are. I’m just trying to shed some light on a job sector that people don’t really hear about being underpaid a lot. These people work hard to find cures for cancer, medical advances and to really help society. Silent heros.