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The differences between research assistants and graduate research assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a research assistant has an average salary of $42,896, which is higher than the $34,230 average annual salary of a graduate research assistant.
The top three skills for a research assistant include patients, lab equipment and data collection. The most important skills for a graduate research assistant are R, technical reports, and research projects.
| Research Assistant | Graduate Research Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $42,896 | $34,230 |
| Hourly rate | $20.62 | $16.46 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 19% |
| Number of jobs | 51,080 | 52,695 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 38 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | - |
Research assistants give support to researchers or other professionals who need assistance as they conduct experiments, studies, or other research projects. Research assistants help in conducting experiments, surveys, or interviews under the supervision of the primary researcher. They also work on research activities such as literature reviews, collect data, assist in interpreting results, prepare designs or visuals for the presentation of the results, and even ensure that all the tools and documentation related to the study are properly organized. They also assist in fact-checking the output and ensure that the data presented are accurate. Research assistants usually possess an academic background that is related to the main research topic.
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.
Research assistants and graduate research assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Research Assistant | Graduate Research Assistant | |
| Average salary | $42,896 | $34,230 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $64,000 | Between $22,000 And $52,000 |
| Highest paying City | New Brunswick, NJ | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Pennsylvania |
| Best paying company | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Education |
There are a few differences between a research assistant and a graduate research assistant in terms of educational background:
| Research Assistant | Graduate Research Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Psychology | Mechanical Engineering |
| Most common college | Harvard University | Georgia Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between research assistants' and graduate research assistants' demographics:
| Research Assistant | Graduate Research Assistant | |
| Average age | 38 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 46.3% Female, 53.7% | Male, 54.2% Female, 45.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 6.0% Hispanic or Latino, 15.4% Asian, 16.9% White, 52.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 6% |