So I was pleased to read Science's recent article on the case of disappearing postdocs, itself a comment on a recent article in FASEB titled "Biomedical science postdocs: an end to the era of expansion", and find a few nuggets of insight highlighting issues with the biomedical research system and perhaps the end of it's expansion.
Beryl Benderly quotes the FASEB paper, stating that "After >3 decades of steady growth, the number of biological and medical science postdoctorates at doctoral degree-granting institutions recently began to decline", with an annualized loss of 1.8% per year between 2010 and 2013. That's a pretty significant drop, partly led by people either 1) eschewing the postdoctoral period altogether, or 2) deciding to develop other career directions while postdocing (myself included).
Aside: Interestingly, the FASEB paper (containing bad news about the biomed research system) is behind a paywall. Hmmph.
So if you're in grad school, read the Science article, and if you can, the FASEB article as well. Get your head around the stats about how likely it is that you, with your abilities and with your future degree from your supervisor and institution, will get that academic position you're striving for. Understand fully what other career directions are open to you with a PhD (hint: there are lots) and weight those against the alternative career of being an academic researcher (hint: it is slim).
Most importantly, keep this quote in mind, which it telling in the way that system reform is currently being urgently promoted by people doing research:
What’s more, “[a] continued loss of postdocs without an alternative source of talented research personnel” for university labs portends harm to the “quality and quantity of our [emphasis mine] biomedical research,” making the need for reform more urgent than ever.
