"Who can we blame for the fact that there are fewer jobs than people who get Ph.D.'s?" What, you expect the tenured professors to write the grants, take the da

"Who can we blame for the fact that there are fewer jobs than people who get Ph.D.'s?" What, you expect the tenured professors to write the grants, take the data, and teach the classes? Not that you need a Ph.D. to do any of these things. But the establishment has decided that you can't get a job as an academic scientist without either having a Ph.D. or being in the process of getting one. (Things are a little better in industry, but only a little better.) Why did they decide that? Well, I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that grad students, being mere "students" and certainly not "employees", have lower wages, substandard benefits, and fewer workplace rights than, say, a new college hire at Microsoft. Nor is it because "students" from foreign countries are relatively happy to work under these conditions in exchange for their "student" visas [1]. And it's not because grad students -- particularly those from foreign countries -- are easily blackmailed [2]. It certainly can't have anything whatsoever to do with that. - - - - [1]: Not that there's anything wrong with student visas. Many of my best friends arrived on those visas! The problem is that, as indentured servants who are constantly threatened with deportation, student visa holders aren't exactly in a position to demand better wages or working conditions. Of course, since the likely alternative to student visas is no visas at all, I'm strongly in favor of them. I like having the world's smartest people living in my neighborhood. Of course, this means that scientists will continue to have artificially depressed wages relative to, say, doctors. C'est la vie. [2]: Yes, blackmailed. I know people whose Ph.D.s were mysteriously delayed while they worked extra hours on unrelated projects for their adviser's startup company. I know someone who quit grad school in disgust after 8.5 years because his project turned out to be impossible but his adviser wouldn't let him surrender. Fortunately, my own adviser was a very reasonable guy... Did you ever see the movie "Real Genius"? The only unrealistic parts are the lasers and the popcorn: the villains are all too real.