In having a brief moan recently about the amount of funding scientists get (which wasn't my real frustration), I wasn't implying I'd prefer their lot all things considered. I dropped sciences after GCSE, despite getting three of my four A*s in maths, physics and biology, because I found them boring. It's true science PhDs are generally poorly paid lab assistants for their supervisors and have little if any control over their research. It's unsurprising they have to be paid a bit more for that - even though they also have better prospects afterwards.
Vaguely on topic, I recently read - in my friend Patrick's Guardian column - that 75% of AHRC funded graduates go on to permanent academic positions. As he points out, it's less encouraging to think about the other one in four, but perhaps they're the ones who don't want academic jobs. Maybe even they're the lucky ones who get JRFs or post-docs - I'd need to know more about how those figures are compiled...
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