Political scientists rate their happiness above average.
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, political scientists rate their career happiness 3.4 out of 5 stars which puts them in the top 38% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy political 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Legislator | 3.5 | $40k |
| Arbitrator | 3.5 | $49k |
| Sociologist | 3.4 | $86k |
| Lobbyist | 3.4 | $50k |
| Political scientist | 3.4 | $45k |
| Intelligence analyst | 3.2 | $57k |
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
- Salary: Are political scientists happy with their salary?
- Meaning: Do political scientists find their jobs meaningful?
- Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as political scientists?
- Work environment: How enjoyable are political scientist’s work environments?
- Skills utilization: Are political scientists making the best use of their abilities?
Are political scientists happy with their salary?
Political scientists rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.0/5. Political scientists tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.
We asked political scientists how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:
3.0 out of 5 stars
629 political scientists
13% of political scientists rated their compensation 5 stars
23% of political scientists rated their compensation 4 stars
28% of political scientists rated their compensation 3 stars
20% of political scientists rated their compensation 2 stars
15% of political scientists rated their compensation 1 stars
Do political scientists find their jobs meaningful?
On average, political scientists rate the meaningfulness of their work a 3.4/5. Most tend to be satisified with the level of meaning they find in their careers.
We asked political scientists how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
651 political scientists
24% of political scientists rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
26% of political scientists rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
26% of political scientists rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
17% of political scientists rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
7% of political scientists rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as political scientists?
Political scientists rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.9/5. The majority of political scientists find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked political scientists how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:
3.9 out of 5 stars
748 political scientists
31% of political scientists rated their career fit 5 stars
36% of political scientists rated their career fit 4 stars
23% of political scientists rated their career fit 3 stars
7% of political scientists rated their career fit 2 stars
3% of political scientists rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a political scientist’s work environment?
As a whole, political scientists rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.5/5. A solid majority of political scientists enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a political scientist.
We asked political scientists how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
729 political scientists
21% of political scientists rated their work environment 5 stars
32% of political scientists rated their work environment 4 stars
27% of political scientists rated their work environment 3 stars
15% of political scientists rated their work environment 2 stars
5% of political scientists rated their work environment 1 stars
Are political scientists making the best use of their abilities?
Former political scientists on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.4/5. Most political scientists surveyed find that they manage to use their abilities to their fullest as a political scientist, which helps contribute to higher career satisfaction in the long term.
We asked political scientists how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
724 political scientists
22% of political scientists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
30% of political scientists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
24% of political scientists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
17% of political scientists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
6% of political scientists rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars