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Teachers Are Among the Professionals With the Lowest Salaries in Brazil! Study Reveals Alarming Data on the Devaluation of Higher Education, While Doctors and Engineers Enjoy High Salaries.
Looking to the future, many believe that education is the key to a prosperous life.
However, a recent study reveals an alarming reality for professionals who dedicate their lives to teaching: teachers rank among the professionals with the lowest salaries in Brazil.
This scenario, although far from new, deserves in-depth discussion.
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A study by the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea) indicates that those who have higher education generally receive significantly higher compensation compared to those with only a high school diploma.
However, this advantage does not translate into satisfactory salaries for all professions.
A survey by the Brazilian Institute of Economics at Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV/Ibre) presents a detailed analysis of the monthly salaries of professionals with higher education in the second quarter of 2023.
This study not only exposes the professions with the lowest salaries but also compares them with data from 2012, revealing the evolution or lack thereof in earnings over the past decade.
Professions With Higher Education and the Lowest Salaries
The list of the ten occupations that pay the least to professionals with higher education is surprising and distressing:
- Preschool Teachers: R$ 2,285 (3% increase compared to 2012)
- Other Education Professionals: R$ 2,554 (-23%)
- Other Art Teachers: R$ 2,629 (-45%)
- Physicists and Astronomers: R$ 3,000 (-16%)
- Social Workers: R$ 3,078 (-7%)
- Librarians, Documentarians, and Related Fields: R$ 3,135 (-32%)
- Special Needs Educators: R$ 3,379 (14%)
- Public Relations Professionals: R$ 3,426 (-23%)
- Speech-Language Pathologists: R$ 3,485 (-28%)
- Elementary School Teachers: R$ 3,554 (7%)
- Other Music Teachers: R$ 3,578 (-35%)
Source: FGV Ibre, based on microdata from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Pnad Contínua)/IBGE
A Gloomy Outlook
These data, collected from microdata from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Pnad), reveal not only low salaries but also the discouragement affecting those who choose the teaching career.
Preschool teachers, for example, have seen an increase of only 3% in their salaries since 2012, an insignificant amount given inflation and the cost of living.
On the other hand, professions such as specialist doctors and mathematicians stand out as the best-paid in Brazil. The disparity is so great that it makes many question the value placed on educational work.
Professions With Higher Education and Better Salaries
The FGV/Ibre analysis also brought to light the higher education professions that hold the best salaries in Brazil. The list, which provides information from the second quarter of 2023, shows the following reality:
- Specialist Doctors: R$ 18,475 (-13% compared to 2012)
- Mathematicians, Actuaries, and Statisticians: R$ 16,568 (50%)
- General Practitioners: R$ 11,022 (-37%)
- Geologists and Geophysicists: R$ 10,011 (-20%)
- Mechanical Engineers: R$ 9,881 (-7%)
- Engineers Not Previously Classified: R$ 9,451 (-11%)
- Software and Application Developers: R$ 9,210 (39%)
- Industrial and Production Engineers: R$ 8,849 (-22%)
- Economists: R$ 8,645 (-39%)
- Electrical Engineers: R$ 8,433 (-22%)
- Mining, Metallurgist, and Related Engineers: R$ 7,887 (-14%)
- Civil Engineers: R$ 7,538 (-41%)
- Database Designers and Administrators: R$ 7,301 (30%)
- Lawyers and Jurists: R$ 7,237 (0%)
- Chemical Engineers: R$ 7,161 (-52%)
- Systems Analysts: R$ 7,005 (-19%)
- Web and Multimedia Developers: R$ 6,075 (91%)
Source: FGV Ibre, based on microdata from the Continuous National Household Sample Survey (Pnad Contínua)/IBGE
A Decade of Crises
The Ipea survey covers a period marked by significant economic crises in Brazil, including the recession from 2014 to 2016 and the impacts of the pandemic.
These events had direct consequences for the job market, highlighting the decline in salaries across various fields.
However, the 13% reduction in specialist doctors’ salaries was less pronounced compared to other professions, reflecting the continuous demand for medical services, ensuring greater stability in this sector.
What to Do?
The salary disparities raise serious questions about the value placed on educators and the need for a paradigm shift regarding education in Brazil.
How can the country reverse this situation and ensure better salaries for education professionals? This question not only provokes reflection but also calls for practical and effective solutions that can transform the reality of thousands of teachers.
Saí do magistério há 3 anos para ser motoboy…Tô de boa e feliz agora
Sai da profissão de piloto da aviação executiva (aposentei) , com ganho de 15 mil no último emprego, então eu não estava tão mal, não uai!
faz o L