Scientists in actual science are seriously underpaid, but there's a case of the Teacher-Executive Problem that's going to make it hard to fix that (http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/software-engi...). The more useful you are, the more need there is for many of you (individual "rock stars" are overrated in the real world) and the greater the implicit multiplier on improving your salary. Increasing scientific pay is has a bigger cost load than increasing executive pay because we actually need scientists (or teachers, in the original formulation of TEP) in significant numbers.
Society has reached a point where the academic route means practically begging for a job that won't even pay for a house, while the startup lottery offers, at least, a chance. (And finance, better yet, offers a high likelihood of being well-off.)
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Scientists in actual science are seriously underpaid, but there's a case of the Teacher-Executive Problem that's going to make it hard to fix that (http://michaelochurch.wordpress.com/2013/11/03/software-engi...). The more useful you are, the more need there is for many of you (individual "rock stars" are overrated in the real world) and the greater the implicit multiplier on improving your salary. Increasing scientific pay is has a bigger cost load than increasing executive pay because we actually need scientists (or teachers, in the original formulation of TEP) in significant numbers.
Society has reached a point where the academic route means practically begging for a job that won't even pay for a house, while the startup lottery offers, at least, a chance. (And finance, better yet, offers a high likelihood of being well-off.)