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There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a science department chairperson. For example, did you know that they make an average of $27.86 an hour? That's $57,958 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 155,000 job opportunities across the U.S.

What Does a Science Department Chairperson Do

There are certain skills that many science department chairpeople have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed critical-thinking skills, speaking skills and writing skills.

Learn more about what a Science Department Chairperson does

How To Become a Science Department Chairperson

If you're interested in becoming a science department chairperson, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 61.8% of science department chairpeople have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 28.7% of science department chairpeople have master's degrees. Even though most science department chairpeople have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Science Department Chairperson
Top Science Department Chairperson Jobs Near You

Career Path For a Science Department Chairperson

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of assistant principal you might progress to a role such as principal eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title education director.

Science Department Chairperson

Average Salary for a Science Department Chairperson

Science Department Chairpeople in America make an average salary of $57,958 per year or $28 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $97,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $34,000 per year.
Average Science Department Chairperson Salary
$57,958 Yearly
$27.86 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Science Department Chairperson

There are several types of science department chairperson, including:

Science Faculty Member

Role:

As a member of the science faculty, your contribution to the faculty of science may be in the form of lecturing students, hosting seminars, conducting academic research, and giving students advice. You may even serve on professional science committees on an advisory basis. If you are a professor, you will be expected to meet deadlines, submit grades on time and provide students with constructive criticism on their performance. Furthermore, as a highly esteemed academic community member, you will be expected to conduct your lectures with the utmost skill and ensure that your students benefit academically from your knowledge.


If you are in the science faculty on a tenure basis, you are expected to make significant contributions to the knowledge in your field through continuous studies and research. Therefore, you need to have extensive knowledge of your field in the sciences. You need to be an excellent communicator, both written and verbal, as you will conduct lectures, write and proofread several research papers.


To become a faculty member, you will need to have obtained a doctoral degree in your scientific field of specialty, work as a research assistant under the supervision of a professor and gain post-doctoral experience. Your extensive scientific knowledge coupled with experience in academia should suffice in order for you to become a member of the science faculty

  • Average Salary: $70,683
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Biology Instructor

Role:

Biology Instructors are teachers in charge of educating students on biology either in middle school, high school, or at a college level. They are responsible for preparing a course curriculum that would cover scientific investigations and lab experiments. Also, they create course materials and deliver lectures. They design student assessment programs, grade assignments, and prepare final grade reports. Additionally, they act as student advisors, interact with parents on student growth, and ensure compliance with school policies and regulations. Besides that, they may coordinate field trips, participate in staff meetings, and develop student rapport.


Requirements vary by employers. High school employers require a bachelor's degree, while college employers request a master's degree. Asides from that, public high schools require a state-issued license. Biology instructors must possess interpersonal, problem-solving, analytical, communication, investigative, research, and analytical skills. You'll be paid $26.62 per hour or an average salary of $55,367 per annum. This ranges between $39,000 and $77,000.

  • Average Salary: $58,811
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Adjunct Biology Instructor

Role:

Are you fascinated with life and living organisms, along with their physical structure and chemical processes? You'll get to explore this fascination and transfer this knowledge to others if you become a biology instructor. Biology instructors stimulate learning experiences for their students by exposing them to the intriguing world of living organisms and their relation to the environment.


As an adjunct instructor, you'll be hired by a college or university on a part-time or contractual basis. In this role, you'll be responsible for teaching biology courses, which will typically include both lectures and labs. You'll also be expected to prepare lesson plans, tests, and assignments and also supervise students as they carry out investigations and experiments. Topics addressed during lectures might include animal and plant diversity, biophysics, physiology, genetics, and biochemistry.


If you're looking to be an adjunct instructor in this area, you'll need to have at least a Master's degree in biology. Previous teaching experience is often preferred.

  • Average Salary: $86,786
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

States With The Most Science Department Chairperson Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active science department chairperson jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where science department chairpeople earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Science Department Chairperson Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California1,663$91,300
2Texas1,084$52,379
3Florida1,013$59,761
4New York766$97,650
5Illinois753$78,143
6Georgia662$45,981
7Pennsylvania659$79,266
8New Jersey583$71,823
9Ohio558$47,621
10Massachusetts551$68,384
11North Carolina546$47,847
12Michigan533$56,692
13Virginia488$70,123
14Washington462$47,452
15Maryland392$64,987
16Colorado375$51,735
17Indiana363$65,050
18Minnesota353$63,612
19Wisconsin343$63,306
20Arizona336$55,511
21Missouri310$40,910
22Tennessee290$49,560
23South Carolina278$55,001
24Oregon258$60,887
25Connecticut248$75,859
26Iowa246$55,804
27Kentucky221$41,118
28Alabama219$52,644
29Louisiana210$57,352
30Utah177$69,987
31Nevada163$71,654
32Mississippi157$74,118
33Arkansas151$46,297
34New Hampshire149$70,266
35Kansas142$51,798
36Oklahoma133$48,661
37New Mexico130$53,931
38Maine123$61,669
39Montana117$46,751
40Nebraska114$46,888
41Idaho108$56,263
42West Virginia101$63,246
43Rhode Island83$77,005
44Delaware78$76,262
45Vermont68$60,717
46South Dakota66$44,158
47Alaska65$81,910
48Hawaii64$67,087
49Wyoming60$51,913
50North Dakota51$66,476

Science Department Chairperson Education

Science Department Chairperson Majors

27.0 %
10.2 %

Science Department Chairperson Degrees

Bachelors

61.8 %

Masters

28.7 %

Doctorate

4.6 %

Top Colleges for Science Department Chairpersons

1. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC • Private

In-State Tuition

$8,987

Enrollment

18,946

2. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

3. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

4. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

5. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

6. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-State Tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

7. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

8. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

9. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

10. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

In-State Tuition

$49,816

Enrollment

6,840

Top Skills For a Science Department Chairperson

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 12.1% of science department chairpeople listed classroom management on their resume, but soft skills such as critical-thinking skills and speaking skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Science Department Chairperson Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Science Department Chairperson templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Science Department Chairperson resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Science Department Chairperson diversity

Science Department Chairperson Gender Distribution

Female
Female
54%
Male
Male
46%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among science department chairpeople, 54.1% of them are women, while 45.9% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among science department chairpeople is White, which makes up 66.1% of all science department chairpeople.

  • The most common foreign language among science department chairpeople is Spanish at 44.7%.

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Best States For a Science Department Chairperson

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a science department chairperson. The best states for people in this position are New York, California, Alaska, and Pennsylvania. Science department chairpeople make the most in New York with an average salary of $97,650. Whereas in California and Alaska, they would average $91,300 and $81,910, respectively. While science department chairpeople would only make an average of $79,266 in Pennsylvania, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Rhode Island

Total Science Department Chairperson Jobs: 83
Highest 10% Earn:
$120,000
Location Quotient:
1.14

2. Alaska

Total Science Department Chairperson Jobs: 65
Highest 10% Earn:
$103,000
Location Quotient:
1.3

3. Mississippi

Total Science Department Chairperson Jobs: 157
Highest 10% Earn:
$118,000
Location Quotient:
1.23
Full List Of Best States For Science Department Chairpeople

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Top Science Department Chairperson Employers

Most Common Employers For Science Department Chairperson

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Los Angeles Unified School District$91,900$44.183
2Canisius College$78,789$37.883
3Houston ISD Foundation$71,285$34.274
4Carver Middle/High School$68,280$32.833
5Wake County Public School System$63,115$30.343
6Baltimore County Public Schools$61,757$29.692
7Gilchrist County School District$61,371$29.514
8Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools$60,660$29.163
9Orange County High School$60,100$28.894
10Texas State Technical College$56,031$26.942