JOHN TEELING,
Sir, - Like many people, I watch in dismay as young Irish people scorn science subjects in schools and abandon science at third level. This happens in spite of repeated attempts over recent decades to promote the subject on the basis that the country needs scientists. This week the IDA made a further plea for young people to look at science and warned of the consequences of a scarcity of skilled people.
Why are young people abandoning the physical sciences? Simply because the career structure for Irish scientists is awful, despite good work by the State and the universities. There are very few top-level jobs for scientists. How many recent Ph.D.s have highly paid jobs? Compare the opportunities for BScs with those for B.Comms or BCLs. Much more importantly, compare the average salaries five, 10 and 20 years after graduation. Twenty-eight-year-old Irish Ph.D.s in science after 10 years of study are lucky to get jobs at half the salary of a qualified accountant - if they get jobs at all in science. There are Ph.D.s in science working in McDonalds today. By the time they are 40 many scientists will be working in a technical position and reporting to business graduates. The remainder will have found other careers. As a result, an increasing number of science graduates find it necessary to take further study in business or other professions to ensure material success.
Some of you may remember the position 35 years ago when business studies were shunned, much as science is today. The B.Comm. was then known as an "Irish cream" degree - for the rich and thick. Great work by UCD and growing opportunities have turned business studies into a career of choice. Until there are opportunities for scientists to get to the top of professions, students will continue to vote with their feet. - Yours, etc.,
John Teeling,
Seafield Road East,
Clontarf,
Dublin 3.