The terrible employment conditions put me off post-grad. I was considered a rising star in my field and published in undergrad. I had offers of PhD places. B

The terrible employment conditions put me off post-grad. I was considered a rising star in my field and published in undergrad. I had offers of PhD places. But I just looked at the career path and thought "I don't want to be poor long into my 40s in the vague hope I will eventually be able to get a job with actual pay and have nice things". People act like there is a nobility to this. But there isn't. It's just a way of reserving certain professions for people with wealthy parents. And it means instead of having the most motivated, the brightest etc, you just get well-off kids who can't be bothered to make the jump to other careers. Not that I am bitter... :) You see something similar in Medicine here in the UK: terrible pay and crazy hours for the first 10 years, then you get a pay-off. That's great if mum and dad will cover your rent until you're ~34, but otherwise you can kiss goodbye to being a doctor and having a family.