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The differences between graduate research assistants and research fellows can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a research fellow has an average salary of $53,823, which is higher than the $34,230 average annual salary of a graduate research assistant.
The top three skills for a graduate research assistant include R, technical reports and research projects. The most important skills for a research fellow are patients, research projects, and data analysis.
| Graduate Research Assistant | Research Fellow | |
| Yearly salary | $34,230 | $53,823 |
| Hourly rate | $16.46 | $25.88 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 17% |
| Number of jobs | 52,695 | 59,746 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Average age | 44 | 41 |
| Years of experience | - | 4 |
Graduate research assistants are students who work for senior researchers or professors. They help professors in their research. Usually, graduate research assistants are given allowances or stipends in exchange for their help. Graduate research assistants help the researcher in testing research tools, gathering data, and analyzing data. They may also help researchers in creating presentations, interpreting data through graphs, and crafting other collateral that the researcher may need. It is usually required that the graduate research assistant is studying a specific field related to the research topic.
A research fellow is an academic researcher who conducts research and analysis of comprehensive literature, data, and results and provides literature reviews. He/She supervises research assistants and recruits study participants to interview them for a particular study. To become a research fellow, a candidate should have a doctorate in a relevant discipline and publish peer-reviewed papers. Also, a research fellow can be an independent investigator or be supervised by a principal investigator.
Graduate research assistants and research fellows have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Graduate Research Assistant | Research Fellow | |
| Average salary | $34,230 | $53,823 |
| Salary range | Between $22,000 And $52,000 | Between $39,000 And $72,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | South San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Pennsylvania | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Los Alamos National Laboratory | McKinsey & Company Inc |
| Best paying industry | Education | Non Profits |
There are a few differences between a graduate research assistant and a research fellow in terms of educational background:
| Graduate Research Assistant | Research Fellow | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 47% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Chemistry |
| Most common college | Georgia Institute of Technology | Duke University |
Here are the differences between graduate research assistants' and research fellows' demographics:
| Graduate Research Assistant | Research Fellow | |
| Average age | 44 | 41 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.2% Female, 45.8% | Male, 55.3% Female, 44.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.0% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 17.6% Asian, 11.8% White, 53.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 27.1% White, 52.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 8% |