5 looming questions about the exodus of young life scientists from academia

The unprecedented departure of young life science Ph.D.s and postdocs from academia raises all sorts of questions — for universities, life science companies, and anyone interested in the future of biomedical research.

We explore some of the key looming questions here, going beyond a recent STAT special report that chronicles this academic exodus and looking ahead to the future. As you’ll see, there are no easy answers, but we take a close look at what has (and hasn’t) happened so far in academic science to understand what might happen next.

Is an exodus from academia even a bad thing?

That all depends on your perspective, of course. Back in 1998, a committee of researchers released a sweeping report for the National Research Council on the careers of early life scientists. What they found still holds true today: There were way more graduate students and postdocs than academic positions. Now, was that a problem? The answer, they noted bluntly, depends on who’s asking the question.

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