I have known more people whose lives have been ruined by getting a Ph.D. in physics than by drugs.
Well, anecdotally, things seem slightly up from the time when this was written, especially if you’re in the right subfield. Then again, maybe the physics job market will be flooded by physicsts-turned-quants-turned-physicists-again for the next couple of years…
Update: I should mention, of course, that that subfield is NOT high-energy theory, but I guess we all knew that.
Update 2: Peter Woit:
As a very, very rough guess, my impression is that in recent years maybe half of the new Ph.D.s in theory get postdocs, and of these, maybe 1/5 end up in a permanent academic job where they can do research. So, if you’re a new theory Ph.D., one chance in ten…
