Holding a Masters' degree ups pay by 30%, central bank says 

by Eynav Ben Yehuda
The Marker
http://www.themarker.com/eng/
June 16, 2004

Holding a masters' degree increases salaries by about 30% 
while a doctorate is worth 17% above that, a Bank of Israel 
study found. 

The study checked how education levels affects pay. Guy Navon of 
the central bank research department examined data of people who 
completed their studies between 1980 to 1995. 

Naturally, not all degrees are equal when it comes to paychecks. 

People with degrees in engineering earn the most, Navon found, 
averaging a gross NIS 11,000 a month (that covers all degrees, 
from the bachelor's to the doctorate). People with degrees in 
humanities gross the least - NIS 6,000 a month. 

However, apropos of humanities, it pays to have studied at 
Bar Ilan University, literally. Graduates of that institution 
gross NIS 7,100 a month on average. As for engineering, the 
best-paid graduates on average are from Tel Aviv University, 
grossing NIS 12,200 a month, followed by Ben Gurion University 
grads with NIS 11,300 a month. 

Graduates of life and precise sciences do best to have graduated 
from the Weizmann Institute, with a gross of NIS 12,100 a month. 
In last place come people holding certification from Haifa 
University, who gross just NIS 7,500. 

Social sciences, law and management studies graduates do best 
coming from Tel Aviv University, with average pay of NIS 13,100 
a month. Next-best are from Ben Gurion, grossing NIS 12,000. 

Grads of medical and health sciences also earn the most when 
they graduate from the Tel Aviv University, averaging NIS 7,800 
a month. 

Across the board, all sciences, grads of Tel Aviv University earn 
the most - NIS 11,700 a month, while people finishing Haifa 
University do the worst, grossing NIS 7,400. 

Regarding those sweeping averages, the Bank of Israel begs to 
clarify that the mix of studies at the different universities 
differs. For one thing, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 
Tel Aviv University and the Weizmann Institute have relatively 
high proportions of masters graduates. Most of the graduates 
from Haifa University and Bar Ilan studied the humanities and 
social sciences, while most of the grads from the Technion 
University studied engineering. 

The Bank of Israel also notes that the impact of the graduate's 
study venue diminishes over time, as the graduate accrues 
professional experience. 

The study also examined gender roles and found that women earn 
16% less than men, though again the precise gap differs by the 
field of study. The gaps among grads of humanities and social 
sciences ranged from 17% to 20%, while in the precise sciences 
it was a narrower 8%. New immigrants typically earn 28% less 
than Israelis but the gap narrows over about seven years. 

The central bank also found that bigger companies pay more; 
cooperatives pay the most and privately held companies pay the 
least; and Jerusalemites get 5% less than Tel Aviv area residents.