07.17.16
Science glut
Very interesting piece by Gina Kolata at the New York Times: So Many Research Scientists, So Few Openings as Professors:
The United States is producing more research scientists than academia can handle.
We have been told time and again that the United States needs more scientists, but when it comes to some of the most desirable science jobs — tenure-track professorships at universities, where much of the exciting work is done — there is such a surplus of Ph.D.s that in the most popular fields, like biomedicine, fewer than one in six has a chance of joining the club in the foreseeable future.
While they try to get a foot in the door, many spend years after getting their Ph.D. as poorly paid foot soldiers in a system that can afford to exploit them.
Over the years I’ve infrequently posted on the matter. The picture is far more complex than the usual piece that delivers the observation that the US doesn’t interest enough people in science.
To the contrary, it does.
“Many spend years in a holding pattern as postdocs, which are temporary positions, working for a professor and being paid from the professor’s research grant,” Kolate writes.
It’s from The UpShot blog and, by definition, is short for the subject. Still there’s a lot to unpack and I am certain there are many research scientists and postdocs nodding their heads, newly minted and from decades back.