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It’s not the job market itself – it’s the chances of being a faculty member at a research institution. </p>
<p>There are very few unemployed biology PhDs. This is not like the situation in the humanities, where a PhD is a genuine risk and the odds of unemployment are high. It’s true that relatively few grad students will end up as faculty members at research universities, but it’s not true that the rest don’t have jobs. BAFapoptosis is not really being fair – he’s comparing the PhD –> research faculty to MD –> doctor, when the appropriate comparison is MD –> top hospital/top specialty position. </p>
<p>Also, it’s true that faculty age at first R01 is up in the 40s now, but not age at first grant. There are many other types of grants offered by NIH and other funding agencies, some of which are explicitly intended to be stepping stones for new investigators on the way to their first R01.</p>