A shortage of Ph.D.s?

Abstract

I enjoyed Jeffrey Mervis's excellent article “Down for the count?” (News Focus, 16 May, p. 1070), which provided a very balanced perspective on scientific manpower issues. In perusing this article, I was disappointed to learn that certain university administrators and other interested parties are once again beating the drum for increased federal funds for training in science, including Ph.D. training. Don't these people ever talk to young scientists? In the fields that I am familiar with, there is no dearth of young Ph.D.s; rather, quite the opposite is the case. I have supervised Ph.D. training programs in the biomedical sciences for over 20 years. In my experience, most new Ph.D.s have extreme difficulty in finding jobs that actually utilize the research skills that are central to Ph.D. training. More and more biomedical Ph.D.s are being shunted into managerial jobs in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. These jobs require a certain degree of scientific and technical sophistication, but they really do not require the lengthy and intense training in laboratory research that is associated with a Ph.D. The current slump in biotechnology funding has limited even this avenue of employment. As a result, many young biomedical Ph.D.s are locked into long “holding patterns” at the postdoctoral level before they attain a “real” job. This situation has been discussed at length elsewhere ([1][1]–[3][2]). If there were truly a dire shortage of new Ph.D.s (as apparently some would have us believe), then in our free market system, young scientists should be seeing rapidly rising compensation and abundant attractive job opportunities. This is certainly not the case in the biomedical arena. I believe that those who are pushing for increased funding for Ph.D. training are confusing quantity with quality. What we need is not more Ph.D.s, but rather more rigorous Ph.D. training so that young biomedical scientists will be prepared for the rapid convergence of biology and physical science that is certain to occur during the next decades. 1. 1.[↵][3]1. S. Tilghman 2. et al. , Trends in the Early Careers of Life Scientists (National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1998). 2. 2.1. E. Marincola, 2. F. Solomon , Mol. Biol. Cell 9, 3003 (1998). [OpenUrl][4][FREE Full Text][5] 3. 3.[↵][6]1. R. L. Juliano, 2. G. S. Oxford , Acad. Med. 76, 1005 (2001). [OpenUrl][7][CrossRef][8][PubMed][9][Web of Science][10] [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-3 [3]: #xref-ref-1-1 View reference 1. in text [4]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DMolecular%2BBiology%2Bof%2Bthe%2BCell%26rft.stitle%253DMol.%2BBiol.%2BCell%26rft.aulast%253DMarincola%26rft.auinit1%253DE.%26rft.volume%253D9%26rft.issue%253D11%26rft.spage%253D3003%26rft.epage%253D3006%26rft.atitle%253DThe%2BCareer%2BStructure%2Bin%2BBiomedical%2BResearch%253A%2BImplications%2Bfor%2BTraining%2Band%2BTrainees.%2BThe%2BAmerican%2BSociety%2Bfor%2BCell%2BBiology%2BSurvey%2Bon%2Bthe%2BState%2Bof%2Bthe%2BProfession%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1091%252Fmbc.9.11.3003%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F9802891%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [5]: /lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiRlVMTCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6MTE6Im1vbGJpb2xjZWxsIjtzOjU6InJlc2lkIjtzOjk6IjkvMTEvMzAwMyI7czo0OiJhdG9tIjtzOjI0OiIvc2NpLzMwMS81NjM0Lzc2My4yLmF0b20iO31zOjg6ImZyYWdtZW50IjtzOjA6IiI7fQ== [6]: #xref-ref-3-1 View reference 3. in text [7]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DAcademic%2BMedicine%26rft.stitle%253DAcad.%2BMed.%26rft.aulast%253DJuliano%26rft.auinit1%253DR.%2BL.%26rft.volume%253D76%26rft.issue%253D10%26rft.spage%253D1005%26rft.epage%253D1012%26rft.atitle%253DCritical%2BIssues%2Bin%2BPhD%2BTraining%2Bfor%2BBiomedical%2BScientists%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1097%2521888-200110000-00007%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F11597839%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [8]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1097/00001888-200110000-00007&link_type=DOI [9]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=11597839&link_type=MED&atom=%2Fsci%2F301%2F5634%2F763.2.atom [10]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=000171489600006&link_type=ISI