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A comment on The bachelor’s to Ph.D. STEM pipeline no longer leaks more women than men. Parent comment

Re:The bachelor’s to Ph.D. STEM pipeline no longer leaks mor... by arcanus on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:04PM (#10147793)
not really -- ska point was that graduate school in STEM is transparently not about maximizing your salary potential. He is completely correct.

I went to a USNEWS top-25 undergraduate program, and had offers at consulting firms, ibanks and science phd programs. My top-10 USNEWS phd program was quite open about a 22k-30k salary for the duration of your phd. The substitution effect had I chosen another route (back of the envelope) was a few 100k in lost earnings.

No one does science (in particular, a phd) for the money, because these are smart, academically accomplished individuals who could find more profitable work elsewhere.

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Re:The bachelor’s to Ph.D. STEM pipeline no longer leaks mor... by kyzyl on Monday August 31, 2015 @01:48PM (#10148051)
I mostly agree, but I interpret kelukelugames's comment as saying that it's one thing to do your homework and be aware of what you're getting yourself into, but it's quite another thing to actually be living on ramen in your mid- to late-twenties. That is to say, people--especially your typical 22 y.o. undergrad--probably often overestimate their willingness to fully live the life of a PhD/postdoc, regardless of how much they "aren't in it for the money".
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