I recently had reason to compare the work of people at opposite ends of the work-related pay scales that our society has developed.\u00a0 At one extreme are those who do high level roles within organisations and at the other end are people who care for the sick, elderly, disabled and otherwise vulnerable in our society.\u00a0 The former tend to earn large amounts of money.\u00a0 For example, the high-level executive earning a six-figure salary or even the Chief Executive earning millions.\u00a0 The latter often earn minimum wage or not much more.<\/p>\n
Millions?, you might ask.\u00a0 What can anyone do in a year to justify an annual salary of millions?\u00a0 It may seem obvious why the work of a Surgeon or an Airline Pilot may justify a six figure salary.\u00a0 However, with respect to many of those who earn much more for their role in large organisations their work is often nebulous, e.g. in reality leadership may be dependent to some extent on the performance of deputies.\u00a0 Becoming a Surgeon or an Airline Pilot requires achieving clear markers and maintaining an objectively measured level of performance.\u00a0 For other organisational roles, gaining the position may be grounded on \u201cnetworking\u201d skills and there is much media evidence of performance not being commensurate with reward.<\/p>\n
What is the relevance of all of this to a PhD researcher considering their future career.\u00a0 Well, a fundamental consideration is the salary and other rewards associated with any given opportunity.\u00a0 The examples I refer to above are at the extremes, either very well paid or very poorly paid.\u00a0 The point I strive to make is that the relationship between pay and \u201ccontribution to society\u201d is not always clear.\u00a0 Within the context of expectations, one\u2019s own and key others such as parents, contemporaries etc\u2026, salary is a consideration when considering a future career direction.\u00a0 Should I go for something I am passionate about, which is not relatively well paid or should I go for something better paid but may not be my heart\u2019s desire.<\/p>\n
Salary is often associated with status, which may impact how the world views us, the kind of house we live in and even the mate we attract.\u00a0 However, when old age comes the only one who will have travelled any person\u2019s life-road is that person.\u00a0 Rather than close this blog input myself I will leave you with one of my favourite poems, \u201cThe Guy in the Glass\u201d, by Dale Wimbrow.<\/p>\n
When you get what you want in your struggle for self,
\nAnd the world makes you King for a day,
\nThen go to the mirror and look at yourself,
\nAnd see what that guy has to say.<\/p>\n
For it isn’t your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
\nWho judgement upon you must pass.
\nThe feller whose verdict counts most in your life
\nIs the guy staring back from the glass.<\/p>\n
He’s the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
\nFor he’s with you clear up to the end,
\nAnd you’ve passed your most dangerous, difficult test
\nIf the guy in the glass is your friend.<\/p>\n
You may be like Jack Horner and “chisel” a plum,
\nAnd think you’re a wonderful guy,
\nBut the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
\nIf you can’t look him straight in the eye.<\/p>\n
You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
\nAnd get pats on the back as you pass,
\nBut your final reward will be heartaches and tears
\nIf you’ve cheated the guy in the glass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I recently had reason to compare the work of people at opposite ends of the work-related pay scales that our society has developed.\u00a0 At one extreme are those who do high level roles within organisations and at the other end are people who care for the sick, elderly, disabled and otherwise vulnerable in our society.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":206,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/pgrcareers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/pgrcareers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/pgrcareers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/pgrcareers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/pgrcareers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/pgrcareers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":174,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/pgrcareers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173\/revisions\/174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/pgrcareers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/pgrcareers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staffblogs.le.ac.uk\/pgrcareers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}