Whenever you find someone in an unusual field for their demographics, chances are they are pretty good. People tend to go with the flow and those who don't tend

Whenever you find someone in an unusual field for their demographics, chances are they are pretty good. People tend to go with the flow and those who don't tend to have particularly strong motivation. But my point is PhD is not the most obvious choice for someone with disadvantaged background. You will not be earning much and will be on the hook for tuition for a long time and even afterwards your salary in research is likely to be much lower than what you could earn in industry with same talent and similar amount of training. Obviously research has benefits to society and individuals may have dreams for things other than money. But I don't think they should be pushed in the direction that may not be best for them personally otherwise.