A couple comments. There are pervasive claims both by prominent scientists and politicians in both parties that there is shortage of scientists (Google STEM sh

A couple comments. There are pervasive claims both by prominent scientists and politicians in both parties that there is shortage of scientists (Google STEM shortage) going back at least to the 1950's. Many people even to this day starting a Ph.D. program are unaware of the long odds against getting a permanent research job. Most Ph.D.'s in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields who leave academia find jobs as some sort of software developer, an often high paying but highly unstable and often short lived career. There are not a lot of jobs for scientific research in private industry; many research labs such as Bell Labs or Xerox PARC established in the post Sputnik 1960's period have been closed or substantially shrunk. Microsoft Research and similar outfits are not nearly as large as the Bell Labs, HP Labs, Xerox PARC of the past. The vast majority of STEM Ph.D. students are funded through grants and contracts from funding agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) which by policy chooses to fund far more Ph.D. graduate students than there are long term positions. In most cases, the funding agencies promote the false idea that there is a current or future shortage of scientists. The funding agencies could by policy limit the number of funded graduate students to some reasonable multiplier of retirements of senior researchers each year, taking into account that some graduate students will reasonably decide to pursue other careers after completing their Ph.D. The extremely long odds of a permanent position, most of which pay no more than a software developer with a few years of experience or an associate at a top tier corporate law firm ensure that a high fraction of the "best and brightest" will not pursue a career in research, tackling problems like curing cancer or better energy sources. The present system hopes that quantity and regimentation -- an army of easily abused indentured servants from India and other "third world" nations -- will win over quality and individual creativity. In many fields, like cancer research, over forty years of this approach has failed unequivocally.