But the real dearth — the lack of clear pathways into careers that could
enable today's generation of gifted
young Americans to become the researchers who make tomorrow's great discoveries — is convincing more and more of the nation's best
students not to seek careers in fields such as
law, finance, medicine and other fields that offer much better short - and long - term career prospects instead of dedicating an average of seven years to PhD study plus an additional five years or more of postdoctoral training now considered necessary to compete for an academic career in many scientific fields.