That's the title of a BBC Radio 4 piece that aired on Monday. Mark Miodownik, a research scientist and lecturer at King's College London, questions the periodic goverment and private institution reports stating that the U.K. needs to increase its scientific workforce. How can this be true, Miodownik wonders, when so many early-career scientists can't find jobs? Miodownik hits the streets, so to speak, to gather opinions on the subject from students, scientists, and leaders, including the U.K. science minister Ian Pearson and Royal Society president Martin Rees.
You can listen to the segment here. (Hat tip: Elisabeth Mahoney, the Guardian)
On that same theme, Dan Greenberg writes in the Chronicle of Higher Education, "The Odds Aren't Favorable for Careers in Science."
A preview: "Unsolicited advice for students contemplating a career in
scientific research: Don't -- unless you’re passionate about life in
the lab and willing to undergo
a long apprenticeship, at low wages, with an uncertain outcome, gain a
situation where, against long odds, you can compete for position and
money to do the research that interests you. Understand this: The
chances of making it are not good."
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