Financial Worries of Chemistry Graduate Students Douglas J. sawyeri and Carie A. Wilson Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287 Effective recruitment and retention of quality graduate students can be enhanced through a more clear understandim of the concerns of current aaduate students. The financia'l concerns of current students and the fkrtors that contrihute to their finmcinl worries provide valuable information which could help formulate recruitment strategies that bring out the most pleasant aspects of a school to its prospective students. Earlier investigations have provided information about why some chemistry majors choose not to go to graduate school ( 1 4 ) . In one particular study of undergraduate chemistry majors (11,the most popular reason for choosing not to pursue any postgraduate training was a financial reason. These students indicated they didn't want to bear the financial burden associated with graduate school. Two of the earlier studies provide evidence that suggests students may be deciding against graduate school for invalid reasons (1,Z). In an attempt to understand better the financial aspects of the chemistry graduate students in our country, a nationwide survey was carried out. The Survey Afour-page questionnaire was prepared with the help of the Survey Research Laboratory at Arizona State University. Ten thousand questionnaires were printed and mailed to 72 chemistry departments in 34 states. The questionnaires were accompanied by a letter requesting they be distributed to the department's graduate students. The questionnaires were then to be collected and returned to the researcher. The returned questionnaires were to include a worksheet specifying the number of questionnaires distributed and returned. The contents of the questionnaire booklet are shown on the next page.
did other duties such as technical support (1.6%).See Figure 3. 6. Six hundred and forty-three (44.5%)respondents indicated they share their expenses with a spouse or significant other.
Respondents' Age Distribution 1
Figure 1. Age distribution of the respondents.
Results Response Completed questionnaires were received from 38 departments (53%)in 27 states. The departments were from puhlic and private institutions of variable size. Within these 38 departments, 4112 questionnaires were distributed and 1445 (35.14%)were returned. The response of each survey was entered into the statistical data base SAS, where the data was subsequently processed.
Figure 2. Monthly income distribution of the respondents
Departmental Income Sources 1. Respondents included 955 males and 488 (33.8%)females. 2. The age distribution is shown in Figure 1. Over twothirds of the respondents were in the age range 23-28. 3. The monthly income distribution is shown in Figure 2. Most of the respondents indicated a monthly income in the $901-$1200 range. 4. The respondents were supported by their department for an average of 11.42 months of the year (1990-
Chemistry Graduate Students
1991) A"-A,.
5. The respondents were made up of: TA's (30.7%),RA's (45.1%),combination TMRA's (22.6%),and persons who
'Corresponding author.
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Journal of Chemical Education
Figure 3. Departmental duties of the respondents.
Chemistry Graduate Student Financial Survey This is a questionaire for chemistry graduate students. The results of this nationwide survey will be organized and published i n a n attempt to publicly reveal t h e prese n t financial situations of chemistry graduate students. Your participation is greatly appreciated.
8. Do you personally have any sources of income other than your income from the department such as a part-time job or a student loan? 0 no 0 yes (list sources)
1. What is your sex? 0 male 0 female
9. How many dependents (other than yourself) do you have?
none 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0 more than 4
2. What is your age? 0 under 20 0 20-22 0 23-25 0 26-28 0 29-31 0 32-34 0 35 or older
10. Indicate your total combined annual income (before taxes) below. If you share expenses, indicate the total combined annual income of both you and your partner. 0 under $5,000 0 $30,001-$35,000 0 $5001-$10,000 0 $35,001-$40,000 0 $10,001-$15,000 0 $40,001-$45,000 0 $15,001-$20,000 0 $45,001-$50,000 0 $20,001-$25,000 0 $50,001-$55,000 0 $25,001-$30,000 0 $55,001-$60,000 0 I don't know exactly. It's about per month. 0 I don't know exactly It's about per-.
3. What is yaur monthly income (before taxes) from your chemistry department? 0 noincome 0 under $300 0 $301-$600 0 $601-$900 0 $901-$1200 0 $1201-$1500 0 over $1500 0 I don't know but I make every -.
11. We're interested in your feelings abaut your present financial situation. Rate your present financial situtation. 0 no financial worries 0 very few financial worries 0 some financial worries 0 significant financial worries 0 constant financial worries
4. How many months per year are you paid by the deparment? 0 9months 0 12 months other
12.Rate each category's contribution ta your fmancial worries. big signifi- slight nota worry cant worry worry low stipend for local cost 0 0 0 0 of living your family situtation 0 0 0 0 a personal money0 0 0 0 management problem a unique personal situation 0 0 0 0 other
5. What type of service dws this monthly income compensate? research
0 teaching 0 other
6. Do you share your expenses with someone such as a spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend? 0 yes 0 no 7. What is the monthly Income (before taxes) of your spouse
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
other
or partner? 0 no income 0 $250043000 0 $&$500 0 $3001-53500 0 $501-51000 0 $3501-$4000 0 $1001-$1500 0 $4001-$4500 0 $1501-$2000 0 $4501-$5000 0 $2001-$2500 0 over $5000 0 I don't know but it's about per year.
7. Most of the graduate students surveyed (80.7%) indicated they have no source of income other t h a n their department. 8. The distribution of sources of extra income, for the respondents who indicated other sources, is shown i n Figure 4. The miscellaneous category includes income from investment interest and stock dividends. 9. The average number of dependents indicated was 0.444, with 70.89% of the respondents indicating they had no dependents.
0
:
13.Explain your answers to questions 11 and 12 in the space below.
.
10. The total combined annual income of t h e respondents was normalized using the Consumer Price Index (5). The distribution of t h e normalized incomes is shown in Figure 5 . 11. The response to question 11 is shown i n Figure 6. The mean value is 3.12 (1 = no financial worries, 5 = constant financial worries). 12. The response to question 12 h a s been categorized according to the four possible '!worryn categories:
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Annual Income
Figure 4. Sources of extra income Figure 5. Total combined annual income Persons with very few financial worries indimted their stipend was the largest contributor to their worries, followed bv a monev-manaeementuroblem. then their familv situation. -l'crsons~withs&ne fi'mcial worries i n d i c n t 2 thmr stipend was the largcst contribut~unw thew worner followed hy their family situation, then a money-managementprohlem. Persons with significant financial worries indicated their stipend was the lamest contributor to their worries. followed b; their family situation, then a unique personal situation. Perwna wth constant financial worries mdxawd thew st~prndwns the lnrgesr cuntnbuurr to thmr wormer, followed by their family situation, then a unique personal situation, The most popular projected contribution to financial worries (question 12)is health insurance costs, followed by anxiety caused by loan debt. The mean response to question 11was evaluated for several subsets of respondents. See the table. Pearson correlation coefficients indicate slight positive correlations between financial worries and: aee (0.094) and number of dependents (0.124). Aslight nega% mrre: lation is seen between financial worries and (normalized) combined annual income (-0.142).
Discussion The surveyed graduate students appear to be a representative sample. In 1989 the chemistry graduate student enrollment in the United States was 69.96% male and 30.04% female. The sample from this work (66.2% male, 33.8%female) is consistent with the recent trend of a slight increase in the femalelmale ratio each year (6). The current age distribution for all chemistry graduate students is not known. I t is noteworthy that since most graduate students have a small income; a typical student's buying power is not affected signifkantly by the region in which they reside. In effect, their buying power is poor whether they live in Boston or in Ames. Among the four choices in question 12, a low stipend was the biggest contribution to the financial worries of the respondents. It is interesting to note from a recruitingstandpoint t h a t health insurance costs were mentioned by nearly all of the respondents who projected answers to question 12. Perhaps departments could enhance their recruitment and retention of graduate students by publicizing (and providing) an attractive health insurance vrofor their students. The information in the table and the correlation coefficients suggest there is no strong relationship between the financial worries of the respondents and any of the variables investigated in this survey. A person's worries (or lack of worries) seem to depend on their individual perception of their situation or on their ability to live as their 876
Journal of Chemical Education
Financial Feelings of Chemistr/ Graduate Students
Figure 6. Response to question 11.
income dictates. Apossible exception to this generalization would be single mothers (see the table). This subset rates high on the "financial worry scale" compared to other subsets. In summary, a n older person is only slightly more
Mean Response to Question 11 for Several Subsets of Respondents Subset
Feelings Males 3.11 Females 3.14 TA's 3.12 RA's 3.12 Teaching & Research 3.11 Other Services 3.0 People who Share 3.21 Single People (don't share) 3.05 NO other income 3.08 Supplemental Income 3.28 Single Males (don't share) 3.02 Single Females (don't share) 3.12 Males who share expenses 3.23 3.17 Females who share expenses Single Males wldependents 3.35 Single Females wldependents 4.21 Males who share, wldependents 3.25 Females who share, wldependents 3.25 ( 1 =no financial worries;5 = constant financial worties).
N
(954) (487) (442) (651) (326) (23) (642) (802) (1145) (298) (523) (276) (431) (211) (26) (14) (287) (92)
likely to have financial worries than a younger person. Similarly, a person with a small income is only slightly more likelv to have financial worries than a nerson whose combined"income is over $60,000 annually. There is no clear dired relationshiu between financial worries and the investigated variables. Future investigations into this data base are being explored. Considering the many variables (including school, department size, geographic region, etc.) and the capabilities of SAS; there are many possibilities. ~~
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Acknowledgment The authors wish to express their sincere appreciation to the staffof'theASU Survey Research Laboratory for their
help in forming the questionnaire. We also wish to thank the Development Office a t the ASU College of Liberal Arts and ~cienc&for a grant which covered the cost of printing 10,000 questionnaires. Literature Cited 1. Sawyer, D. J. J Chem Edue l991,68,211L214 2. Mmtegani,F. J.Eng. Educ 1988.78,25&257. 8. Brazziel. W.F Educ. R-rd 1987.68. 10&115.
6.
U.S. Dept. of Edumtion, National Cen*
for Educational Statistics, Dimat ofEdrrc.
Sfofrsliu 1989.
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