Preprint of a new paper examining the material conditions that give rise to internationally recognized scientists just came out. The authors argue that if we were actually recognizing and nurturing scientific talent, we'd expect the family income distribution of Nobel laureates to be roughly normal (i.e. most Nobel winners would come from families with incomes around the 50th percentile). Their results very much do not bear this out: the average Nobel winner grew up in a household in the about the 90th percentile of income no matter where they grew up, with disproportionately large numbers coming from the 95th percentile and up. This strongly suggests that academic achievement, especially at the highest levels, is not a meritocracy, but rather limited by the material conditions of birth.

shocked-pikachu I know, but the size of the effect is really staggering.

Paper here

  • Adlach@lemmygrad.ml
    ·
    1 month ago

    I think it's less about wealth directly as it is about the overly particular academic path. I think there is high heritibility among professors because their kids get a much better idea of how to become a professor, and have a built-in network.

    Professors are nowhere near the 95th percentile in income. If this were the case, you would expect to see a spike around the 75-85 range, not at 95.

    • hexaflexagonbear [he/him]
      ·
      1 month ago

      Professors in Canadian R1 equivalents are definitely in the 95th income percentile lol. Virtually everyone in the department I got my PhD from are in the 98th and 99th percentiles.

    • gay_king_prince_charles [she/her, he/him]
      ·
      1 month ago

      tenured professors at private universities make around 200,000 per year, which puts them at the 94th percentile. Public university professors name around 150k, which puts them at the 90th percentile.

      • Adlach@lemmygrad.ml
        ·
        1 month ago

        Can I ask where you got that data? Those numbers are substantially higher than I was able to find in the US, but I grant that my sources are self-reports. I can find public data, but only as recently as 2010.