Science undergoes the gradual market-oriented transformation. Our study intends to illustrate how these market logics manifest themselves at the individual level of scientists. By examining the marketized mentality (MM) of scientists in Poland, we confirm that the traditional academic ethos and the marketized mentality are incompatible. Scientists as a group manifest fewer signs of marketized mentality than the general population of Poland. This does not mean that higher MM is uncommon among scientists. Representatives of humanities, agricultural and veterinary sciences, and medical sciences were less willing to adopt MM values than those in social sciences. We found that higher degrees of MM characterized academics whose attitude towards values and norms might be describes as ‘opportunistic’ and who additionally conduct applied research. This suggests that the lack of academic values might disturb the ability of science to solve problems that are unprofitable such as climate change, economic inequality, migration, and pandemics.