Professor John Logan discussed why one UC major leads to some of the highest-paying jobs in San Francisco Chronicle
John Logan, Professor and Department Chair of Labor and Employment Studies discussed why one UC major leads to some of the highest-paying jobs, earning even more than the same degree from other universities in in a recent San Francisco Chronicle article.
Some experts point to UC Berkeley’s unique peer-instruction system, where undergraduates learn in small sections taught by more advanced students, which mimics the software engineering environment in companies. Others highlight UC Berkeley’s high national rankings in the U.S. News & World Report, where its computer science program is tied for second with Stanford and Carnegie Mellon, just behind MIT.
Professor John Logan, Chair of Labor and Employment Studies, noted that geography also plays a role. “Silicon Valley was originally there because of Stanford, and UC Berkeley has benefited from that,” he explained. Berkeley is located in the heart of the tech hub. This location helps graduates secure high-paying roles in the region.
However, Logan pointed out that these numbers don’t tell the whole story. “People always think that tech workers are very highly paid, but the pay is not that high, and the hours are really long,” he said. Moreover, it is important to notice that Bay Area’s extremely high cost of living balances out high salary rates.
Meryl Mathew, a UCLA sophomore studying computer science, agreed that graduates from her program could earn similar salaries if they relocated to the Bay Area. She emphasized that Northern California’s “markedly higher” cost of living pushes companies to offer larger compensation packages.
Whether or not a wage gap truly exists, the current data shows that Berkeley graduates earn, on average, $33,000 more than UCLA graduates ten years after finishing their degrees. However, as stated earlier, these figures do not account for cost-of-living differences, which is an important factor that makes this comparison much more complicated.