Principal investigator vs school administrator

The differences between principal investigators and school administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a principal investigator and a school administrator. Additionally, a principal investigator has an average salary of $84,635, which is higher than the $48,331 average annual salary of a school administrator.

The top three skills for a principal investigator include patients, data collection and project management. The most important skills for a school administrator are student issues, student attendance, and curriculum development.

Principal investigator vs school administrator overview

	Principal Investigator	School Administrator
Yearly salary	$84,635	$48,331
Hourly rate	$40.69	$23.24
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	44,475	73,018
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	4	4

Principal investigator vs school administrator salary

Principal investigators and school administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Principal Investigator	School Administrator
Average salary	$84,635	$48,331
Salary range	Between $59,000 And $120,000	Between $31,000 And $73,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	New York, NY
Highest paying state	California	New York
Best paying company	Incyte	KIPP Northern California Public Schools
Best paying industry	Technology	Professional

Differences between principal investigator and school administrator education

There are a few differences between a principal investigator and a school administrator in terms of educational background:

	Principal Investigator	School Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 53%	Bachelor's Degree, 54%
Most common major	Psychology	Education
Most common college	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor	University of Pennsylvania

Principal investigator vs school administrator demographics

Here are the differences between principal investigators' and school administrators' demographics:

	Principal Investigator	School Administrator
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 52.2% Female, 47.8%	Male, 40.6% Female, 59.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.0% Asian, 4.3% White, 66.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 12.4% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 14.1% Asian, 4.3% White, 64.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	16%	16%

Differences between principal investigator and school administrator duties and responsibilities

Principal investigator example responsibilities.

Serve chemistry project leads for two early-stage drug discovery projects.
Design, build and manage CADD, NMR and MRI facilities.
Attain IRB approval, recruit participants, analyze the data and present results
Manage outsource projects, and interact with vendors for API sourcing, and device components base on project needs.
Conduct research using industry standards: GCP, GLP, SORP and compliance with IRB.
Receive IRB approval and clearance for research

School administrator example responsibilities.

Manage social media profiles through Facebook for important details and dates pertaining to HeartChase.
Provide administrative duties for Pre-K to 7th grade.
Perform presentations using Smartboard, Powerpoint, and Smilebox.
Lead teacher for pre-k class specializing in children with special needs.
Spearhead efforts to raise student literacy and math scores on standardize tests.
Assist or lead meetings including faculty, IEP, and RTI small group.

Principal investigator vs school administrator skills

Common principal investigator skills

Patients, 10%
Data Collection, 9%
Project Management, 8%
Technical Reports, 6%
FDA, 4%
Data Analysis, 4%

Common school administrator skills

Student Issues, 21%
Student Attendance, 19%
Curriculum Development, 9%
Classroom Management, 6%
School Administration, 5%
Payroll, 4%

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Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator vs School Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

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