Professors Get Long-Term Contracts. Why Not Average Workers?

Academia doesn’t pay that well. According to the American Physical Society, in 2013-14 a graduate with a doctorate in physics could expect to earn about $60,000 as a tenure-track professor, but about $90,000 in the private sector. Why the disparity? One reason is that being a professor is in many ways a nicer job than working for a company -- the hours are flexible, you don’t really have a boss, and you get to exchange ideas with other scholars and live in a pleasant campus setting.

But academia also has another big advantage -- the promise of tenure. Academic tenure offers a permanence and stability that has almost disappeared from the private sector. Although some people disdain that stability and instead relish the chance to hop from job to job, others value job security enough that they’re willing to take a lower salary in exchange.