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Carolyn Johnson reports in the Boston Globe that in recent years, the position of postdoctoral researcher has become less a stepping stone and more of a holding tank as postdocs are caught up in an all-but-invisible crisis, mired in a underclass as federal funding for research has leveled off, leaving the supply of well-trained scientists outstripping demand. “It’s sunk in that it’s by no means guaranteed — for anyone, really — that an academic position is possible,” says Gary McDowell, a 29-year old biologist doing his second postdoc. “There’s this huge labor force here to do the bench work, the grunt work of science. But then there’s nowhere for them to go; this massive pool of postdocs that accumulates and keeps growing.” The problem is that any researcher running a lab today is training far more people than there will ever be labs to run. Often these supremely well-educated trainees are simply cheap laborers, not learning skills for the careers where they are more likely to find jobs. This wasn’t such an issue decades ago, but universities have expanded the number of PhD students they train from about 30,000 biomedical graduate students in 1979 to 56,800 in 2009, flooding the system with trainees and drawing out the training period.
Possible solutions span a wide gamut, from halving the number of postdocs over time, to creating a new tier of staff scientists that would be better paid but one thing people seem to agree on is that simply adding more money to the pot will not by itself solve the oversupply. Facing these stark statistics, postdocs are taking matters into their own hands recently organizing a Future of Research conference in Boston that they hoped would give voice to their frustrations and hopes and help shape change. “How can we, as the next generation, run the system?” said Kristin Krukenberg, 34, a lead organizer of the conference and a biologist in her sixth year as a postdoc at Harvard Medical School after six years in graduate school. “Some of the models we see don’t seem tenable in the long run."
(Score: 2) by umafuckitt on Tuesday October 07 2014, @08:34PM
It's not as bleak as you paint it. I'm in academia and I earn above median income for my area. I've heard people complain that they have a PhD but aren't earning more than their friends who left for "real" jobs after their first degrees. I don't understand that line of thinking. It's well understood that an academic career won't net you a big income.
It's true that job security in general is low, but it's possible to find labs and institutes where it's good. In both my PhD and postdoc labs I was told that I could stay on as long as I wanted. In both cases I left to broaden my skill set and try new things. My current job has the potential to officially be permanent. This brings me on to the limited location choice. It's true if you want to live in a specific city, then your choices are limited. However, if you're flexible, academia is a great way to see loads of new places.
(Score: 1) by boristhespider on Tuesday October 07 2014, @08:38PM
"In both my PhD and postdoc labs I was told that I could stay on as long as I wanted."
What field are you in? This is very much not the norm in theoretical physics, astronomy and cosmology. No matter who you are or how good you are, when the funding is gone there's very little leeway; they might be able to find a few more months to help tide you over but after that, you're gone.
(Score: 2) by moondrake on Wednesday October 08 2014, @11:13AM
Also depends on the country. In Many EU countries, there are labor laws that forbid universities and institutes to extend your temporary contract. They have to fire you, or give you a permanent position after 4-6 years (depends on the country). Even when they have money to hire you for 60 years temporarily, they will fire you as that pool of money is for temp jobs, not permanent jobs. Irrespective of how good you are, you will still have to move.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 08 2014, @03:06PM
That's certainly true in Norway, where I've worked. If you try and extend past a third year you've got a massive fight on your hands, and extending into a fourth is virtually impossible unless the university have already decided they want to take you on permanently. (And if that happens they're much more likely to advertise the post and end your contract anyway, and encourage you to apply.)
--boristhespider
(Score: 2) by umafuckitt on Wednesday October 08 2014, @08:42PM
I'm the biosciences. I also lucked out by working in labs that were well funded and where my bosses placed value on retaining experienced people.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Wednesday October 08 2014, @08:34AM
sudo mod me up