Grad students are essentially like employees, just with shitty pay and a higher dependence on the goodwill of their bosses to get their PhD. A large part of sci

Grad students are essentially like employees, just with shitty pay and a higher dependence on the goodwill of their bosses to get their PhD. A large part of scientific research in academia is performed by grad students. To compare this with an area HN is more familiar with, the equivalent to a grad student would be a junior developer fresh out of college in their first 3-5 years. Of course they don't know everything yet and they need some education and mentoring. But that doesn't mean it isn't a real job they do. The job grad students do is roughly the same they'd do later if they stay in research.