
Ask HN: Where have all the scientists gone? - wimbledon
Is our present system not creating any?
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eesmith
2006 - [https://www.the-scientist.com/uncategorized/are-we-
training-...](https://www.the-scientist.com/uncategorized/are-we-training-too-
many-scientists-47238) \- "Are We Training Too Many Scientists? A glut of
postdocs, too few desired positions, and a faculty invested in the status quo
point to a need for change. Who will take responsibility?"

2013 - [https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/too-many-
scientists/5...](https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/too-many-
scientists/5820.article) \- "Too many scientists? The proliferation of PhDs is
unsustainable and damaging, says Paula Stephan."

2010 - [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-the-us-
produ...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-the-us-produce-
too-m/) \- "Does the U.S. Produce Too Many Scientists? American science
education lags behind that of many other nations, right? So why does it
produce so many talented young researchers who cannot find a job in their
chosen field of study?"

2018 - [https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2018/02/science-
discontents-...](https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2018/02/science-discontents-
jobs-many-scientists/) "Science and Its Discontents: Too Few Jobs—or Too Many
Scientists?"

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dalemyers
What makes you say that they are gone? Are you saying that there are fewer
than before? Comparatively less? Or that you just don't see many people
putting on a white lab coat for work these days?

How do you even define a scientist? Is a chemist a scientist? A physicist? A
mathematician? A computer scientist? A data scientist?

