> Sure, some postdocs may realize too late they don’t > really want to be independent and they would gladly keep > doing what they are doing for some more t

> Sure, some postdocs may realize too late they don’t > really want to be independent and they would gladly keep > doing what they are doing for some more time: this is > what positions in industry are for², and this is what a > lab tech position is for. No need to invent new names > for those jobs. a) Industry positions require and offer very different things when compared to mid-level research positions. Lab techs don't do original research and often earn even less than their junior faculty colleagues. What the authors of the blog posts in question were going for is simply a sustainable middle ground in academic research; something between "up" and "out." Realistically, not everyone will find a tenured professorship. It'd be much more efficient to keep these (often well-trained) researchers in mid-level positions where they can do original research without having to manage a huge lab or being drastically underpaid. b) Moreover, the industry/lab tech idea completely ignores anything other than life sciences and certain physical sciences. There are industry jobs and well-paid lab techs in microbiology, engineering, some areas of physics, chemistry. Other than that? Not many alternatives to the standard career path, really.