Microbiology Director Salary Survey

Susan Sharp, Ph.D.’ Gary Blau, Ph.D.2 Michael Miller, Ph.D.3 ‘Departments of Microbiology & Immunology;

and Phlebotomy and Processing Mount Sinai Medical Center Miami Beach, FL 33140

2H~an Resources A~inistra~‘on Department

Temple University Phila~lphia, PA 19122

3Hospital Environment Laboratory Branch, HIP

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Atlanta, GA 30333

How the Survey was Conducted A salary survey of doctorate level

microbiologists who direct the activities of clinical or public health microbiology laboratories in the United States and Canada was conducted between July and December of 1998 via an internet users group. Data collected included years of experience, years at current position, type of institution, institution bed size, whether or not an academic appointment was held, and current salary. There were 57 respondents whose responses were tallied as an entire group and in addition were sub- divided into seven geographical groups (Northeast, Southeast, North central, South central, Northwest, Southwest, and Canada). Responses were received over the internet, via fax, or by tele- phone and could be anonymous if the respondent so desired.

Statistical analysis was performed in order to answer the following questions:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Are salaries significantly different between geographical areas?

Are salaries significantly different in large versus smaller institutions?

Is increasing salary associated with increasing years of experience?

Is salary significantly different between those who possess an academic appointment and those who do not?

Is possessing an academic appoint- ment more often associated with large versus smaller institutions?

Is there a salary difference by type of institution (multi-group hospital, individual hospital, and public health facility)?

Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) (1). All tests are two- tailed since there was no prior hypothe- sis. It should be noted that T tests were performed on small groups which make it more difficult to detect significant differences. A P value of ~0.05 was considered significant and a P value of < 0.10 was considered marginally significant.

Analyses As an entire group, years of experi-

ence ranged from 1 to 33 years, with years at current position ranging from less than one month to 27 years. All respondents were from a hospital set- ting, except for two who worked in a public health/governmental facility. Twelve respondents indicated that they were from laboratories that were asso- ciated with multi-group hospitals (two or more hospitals), while 43 were from individual hospitals with bed sizes ranging from 186 to 1,000 beds. Sixty- three percent of respondents indicated that they held an academic appointment at a university. Annual salaries ranged from $50,000 to $165,000 per year with an average of $93,500 (U.S. dollars). Total group and regional data are shown in Table 1.

Statistical Analysis of Six Questions 1. Are salaries significantly different

between geographical areas?

Twenty-one independent sample T tests were performed on the seven differ- ent geographical areas. One signifi- cant difference was found with North central area salaries being higher ($106,480) than Northwest salaries ($79,050). Two marginally signifi- cant differences were noted between North central salaries ($106,480) and those of Southeast salaries ($84,400), and between Southwest salaries ($94,280) and those of Northwest salaries ($79,050).

2. Are salaries significantly different in large versus smaller institutions?

The comparison between salary and bed size as a measure of institutional size showed a correlation of 0.12, which was not significantly different (P >0.44). Thus, salary was not related to the size of the institution.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Is increasing salary associated with increasing years of experience?

There was a significant correlation between salary and occupational years of experience (0.34), which is significant at PcO.01. However, the correlation between years in current position and salary was not significant.

Is salary signi~cantly different between those who possess an academic appointment and those who do not?

No, although mean salary was higher for those having an academic appointment ($97,890) versus those who do not ($86,030), this difference is not signi~cantly different.

Is possessing an academic appoint- ment more often associated with large versus smaller institutions?

The correlation between academic appoin~ent and institutional size was not significantly different, although it should be noted that the direction of this relationship points to non-academic appointees tending to be at larger institutions.

Is there a salary difference by type of institution?

One marginally significant differ- ence was noted between the salaries of directors from multi-hospital group facilities ($100,020) versus those of public health laboratory directors ($66,340).

Discussion One must keep in mind that this was

a voluntary survey directed at doctoral- level directors of clinical microbiology laboratories and was conducted over the intemet via a clinical microbiology users group for doctoral-level microbiology laboratory directors. Not all the doctoral- level clinical microbiology directors in the United States and Canada are part of this users group, and not all of the users of the internet group responded to the survey. However, 57 people did respond to the survey request and data on a wide range of institutions, institu- tional sizes, academic appointments, years of experience, and salaries were collected. The data collected were large enough for statistical analysis to be per-

54 01964399199 (see fron~atter) 8 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. Ciinical Microbiology Newsletter 21:7,1999

formed which allowed us an oppo~unity to catch some insights into this genre.

Through this analysis, we found that salary was not significantly related to institutional size, years at current posi- tion, or the holding of an academic appointment. Differences were found in salaries, however, in relation to years of

Table 1. Survev resulb

~cupation~ experience (more years of experience equals a higher salary) and between those practicing at multi-group hospitals (higher salaries) and those at public health/governmental facilities. Significant and m~gin~ly-signi~cant salary differences were also noted between three different geographical

areas of the United States and Canada, with directors in the North central states being paid the highest salaries.

Reference

1. Norusis, M. 1993. SPSS for windows: Base system user’s guide, release 6.0 Chicago, IL: SPSS, Inc.

Item No. respondents $ Salary range* Average salaryb Bed size (range) Hospital lab. type

single multi-coup PWg0vt.C

No. (%) with academic appointment Years experience years at current position

NE SE

15 9 52 - 120 50- 124

92.9 84.4 186-770 250 - 1,000

12 9 3 0 0 0

10 (67) 4 (44)

2-33 cl-32 <l - 13 cl-27

Geographical area0

NC SC N?V SW Canada Total

13 6 3 6 5 57 69 - 165 72 - 141.5 71.5 - 90 71.3 - 105 61.4 - 140 50 - 165

106.5 95.0 79.1 94.3 84.3 93.5 250 - 850 540 - 900 330 - 460 300 - 500 450 - 700 186 - 1,000

9 4 2 4 5 43 4 2 1 2 0 12 0 0 0 0 0 2

10 (77) 5 033) 2 (67) 2 (33) 3 (60) 36 (63)

3-24 6-27 14-25 15-25 lo-27 <l - 32 1 - 19 cl-25 14-25 l-20 2-27 cl -27

“NE = Northeast (includes Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, Wrginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, D.C.); SE = Southeast (includes Alabama, Florida, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi); NC = North Central (includes Michigan, Ohio, Mi~esota, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, North and South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, ~sconsin); SC = South centrat (includes Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas); NW = Northwest (includes Washington, Oregon, Montana, Wyoming, Idaho); SW = Southwest (includes California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado)

bin thousands (U.S. dollars) ‘Public heal&/government

Upcoming Meeting Announcements - American So&y for Microbiology

General Meeting ICAAC Future Dates: Future dates: 1999: May 30 - June 3, Chicago, IL 2000: May 21-25

1999: September 26-29, San Francisco, CA 2000: September 17-20, Toronto, Canada

ASM’s General Meeting is held annually in the late spring and brings together microbiologists from diverse environments. ASM members in 25 topical divisions work together to create a program that is informative and educational in the following broad cate- gories: diagnostic microbiology and epidemiology; pathogenesis and host response mechanisms; general and applied microbiology (includes envi- ronmental); and molecular micro- biology, physiology, and virology. Workshops of special interest topics are offered immediately preceeding the meeting for an additional fee.

The Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), held annually in the early fall, is ASM’s preeminent meeting on infec- tious diseases. ICAAC programs stimu- late the exchange of new information among over 10,000 scientists worldwide, including researchers and clinicians. Sessions are often developed in cooper- ation with other societies, both domestic and international. Invited presentations include over 30 symposia, 25 state-of- the-art minilectures, 20 meet-the-expert roundtables, six interactive sessions, two award lectures, and an opening session providing an AIDS update.

Workshops of special interest topics are offered immediately preceeding ICAAC for an additional fee.

Note: As a service to our readers, the editors of Clinical Microbiology News- letter will publish announcements of upcoming scientific meetings and edu- cational conferences related to clinical microbiology and infectious disease. Any group or organization wishing to have such announcements published in CMN should submit the appropriate info~ation to the editor addressed below. To insure timeliness of the ~noun~ement, it must be submitted at least four months prior to the scheduled meeting date.

Paul A. Granato, Ph.D. Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology Room 2204 WH SUNY Health Science Center 750 E. Adams St. Syracuse, NY 13210 USA

Clinical Microbiology Newsletter 21:7,1999 0 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. 0196-4399199 (see frontmatter) 5.5