I'll probably read the whole article, but the first line of the abstract is already losing me: "The unemployment rate for PhDs in science, engineering, and hea

I'll probably read the whole article, but the first line of the abstract is already losing me: "The unemployment rate for PhDs in science, engineering, and health is about one-fourth that of the general population." Oh, come on, you're comparing this against the general population? People who get PhD's in these subjects are typically great high school students who get into good colleges, major in difficult subject matter with high attrition rates, score high on standardized tests, survive a highly selective admissions process to grad school, spend up to a decade in an immensely difficult academic program with astoundingly high attrition rates compared with elite medicine, dentistry, law, or mba programs, and do some unpaid postdoc work. A low unemployment rate compared to the national average. Gee, now there's a good control group. For a more sobering viewpoint, take a look at a recent RAND study about the employment prospects for scientists and engineers relative to professions: http://www.rand.org/pubs/issue_papers/IP241.html http://www.rand.org/pubs/issue_papers/IP241.html