Pros
- Unbeatable health benefits - Lengthy winter break - You frequently have the opportunity to work flexible hours (depends on the PI)
Cons
- Employer illegally refuses to offer overtime pay for non-exempt workers (leading staff members to perform unpaid labor) - Little ability to advance or receive compensation increases - Intensely hierarchical environment - Staff of color perform immense labor for (mostly white) faculty members with 0 recognition. You are lucky if the PI includes you in a footnote on manuscripts for studies for which you did the vast majority of the work. Often PIs do not even know much about the very studies they are supposedly leading (don't know the interview protocols, survey instruments, recruitment goals, timelines, etc.) and research coordinators are expected to be grateful to be saddled with all the work while making subpar compensation and receiving no institutional credit.