<p>You also have to look at the availablilty of jobs, the requirement of being hired, and the supply of availble workers. In the case of science there are very poor numbers of jobs in the USA (the ones that haven’t already been offshored) compared to vast number of both native workers and the increasing number of h1-b’s companies are demanding that the USA be flooded with. As a result wages are poor, we have brilliant scientists slaving away as post-docs year after year because they still hold out hope that someday they will get a real job in science which for most people that will never happen. Also companies are getting away with making insane purple squirrel requirements for specialized education and experience and providing no training nor professional development. </p>
<p>As a chemist in industry I have never gotten anyting more than the most rudimentary training. I had to teach myself many of the requirments of my job which I was successful mainly due to the availablitiy of online resources, artciles and free classes offered by instrument manufacturers as well as networking groups of others in the profession.</p>
<p>One has to look at the situation and ask is it worth it to devote so much time effort and money to train for something that has such a poor chance of offering even the simple ability to support yourself. I think most Americans are seeing the anwser to that is no even if your really have a passion for science which is why more and more graduate programs are being dominated by foreign nationals. For them, it is a way out of poverty but for Americans it has turned into a way into it.</p>
<p>Also unemployment figures are always doctored to make things look rosier than they are. What you need to look at are labor force participation rates and how many PhD’s are lumped into “further studies” rather than unemployed.</p>