Hacker News Reader

In hard sciences it's typical that your tuition will be completely covered and that you'll additionally be paid a livable wage. With that knowledge, do you agree with his premise now?

View on HN

Yeah, you get paid a "livable" stipend that comes to less than minimum wage when you factor in the hours worked.

I've never understood why USA PhD students appear to be paid so badly. My stipend was 36k USD (tax free, so compared favourably with the salaries of my friends who went into industry). I worked pretty much 9-5 with the occasional late nights, and got paid an additional $23/hr for work not related to my PhD (teaching, work on other research projects).

Interestingly if I'd gone into industry I'd have been earning much less than my equivalent in the USA.

The basic answer seems to be: in Europe, you're in school until you finish your MSc, but once you start the PhD you're basically just considered a junior-ranked research professional and paid accordingly, even if your de jure status is "student". In much of the rest of the world, including but not limited to the Anglosphere, the BSc is the terminal degree, a MSc is a consolation prize for failing your PhD, and a person doing a PhD is considered very definitely a student, with the loss of pay, permanence and status that entails.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com