Materials scientists are about average in terms of happiness.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, materials scientists rate their career happiness 3.2 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 45% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy materials scientists are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
| Career | Satisfaction | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Industrial ecologist | 3.2 | $77k |
| Geneticist | 3.2 | $83k |
| Meteorologist | 3.2 | $43k |
| Molecular biologist | 3.2 | $83k |
| Statistician | 3.2 | $96k |
| Materials scientist | 3.2 | $100k |
| Biotechnician | 3.1 | $48k |
| Microbiologist | 3.1 | $79k |
| Food science technologist | 3.1 | $78k |
| Chemical technician | 2.9 | $49k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are materials scientists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do materials scientists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as materials scientists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are materials scientist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are materials scientists making the best use of their abilities?
Are materials scientists happy with their salary?
Materials scientists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.2/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most materials scientists having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked materials scientists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
150 materials scientists
15% of materials scientists rated their compensation 5 stars
24% of materials scientists rated their compensation 4 stars
31% of materials scientists rated their compensation 3 stars
19% of materials scientists rated their compensation 2 stars
10% of materials scientists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do materials scientists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, materials scientists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.0/5. While most materials scientists aren’t very fulfilled by their work, some people may still manage to find meaning in it.
We asked materials scientists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
153 materials scientists
18% of materials scientists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
12% of materials scientists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
33% of materials scientists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
24% of materials scientists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
13% of materials scientists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as materials scientists?
Materials scientists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of materials scientists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked materials scientists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.7 out of 5 stars
165 materials scientists
23% of materials scientists rated their career fit 5 stars
33% of materials scientists rated their career fit 4 stars
35% of materials scientists rated their career fit 3 stars
7% of materials scientists rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of materials scientists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a materials scientist’s work environment?
As a whole, materials scientists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.5/5. A solid majority of materials scientists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a materials scientist.
We asked materials scientists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
163 materials scientists
20% of materials scientists rated their work environment 5 stars
33% of materials scientists rated their work environment 4 stars
28% of materials scientists rated their work environment 3 stars
12% of materials scientists rated their work environment 2 stars
7% of materials scientists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are materials scientists making the best use of their abilities?
Former materials scientists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.2/5. Most materials scientists are satisfied with how well their abilities are skills are made of use.
We asked materials scientists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
164 materials scientists
20% of materials scientists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
23% of materials scientists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
28% of materials scientists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
22% of materials scientists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
8% of materials scientists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars