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Poor mental health is an issue for many of our readers. That fact is underscored by the response to a tweet sent by @NatureNews earlier this week, which highlighted that rates of depression and anxiety reported by postgraduate students are six times higher than in the general population (T. M. Evans et al. Nature Biotechnol. 36, 282–284; 2018), and asked what should be done to help. The figures are a shock, but it was the reaction that blew us away: more than 1,200 retweets and around 170 replies.
“This is not one dimensional problem. Financial burden, hostile academia, red tape, tough job market, no proper career guidance. Take your pick,” read one. “Maybe being told day in, day out that the work you spend 10+ hrs a day, 6–7 days a week on isn’t good enough,” said another.
The feedback emphasizes something that Nature has highlighted often in recent years: there is a problem among young scientists. Too many have mental-health difficulties, and too many say that the demands of the role are partly to blame. Neither issue gets the attention it deserves. “I’d love to see some of the comments under this thread published,” wrote one responder. “There needs to be real conversation about this, not just observation.”
We agree — which is why we are publishing some of the responses. (You can read the full thread here.)
(Score: 4, Interesting) by bobthecimmerian on Monday April 02 2018, @04:46PM
There is nothing wrong with becoming a carpenter, plumber, auto mechanic, or electrician. That said, even that can be a hard field to do well with. A lot of people are shifting that way because they have no other option. When someone calls about getting a sink replaced instead of competing against two other people when all three of you charge $75 an hour for labor (because of taxes, insurance, and fuel for your van) you're up against ten competitors and some are so desperate to bring in an income that they charge $35 an hour. You can't blame the buyer for picking the cheap competitor, it's not the buyer's job to verify that the competitor carries insurance or any certifications.
My uncle is a retired electrician and he said the blue collar trade to look into now would be robotics repair and maintenance. That's guaranteed to be a fast-growing field.