[analog31]

In my experience as a gradual student, the academic job situation for PhDs was widely known, at least in my field -- physics. That was in the early 90s.

I know that a lot of people entered grad school with the stated goal of pursuing an academic career, but I wonder if that is more of a rationalization than a definite objective. My guess is that people are motivated simply by an interest in the subject matter, and in getting more education.

In my own case, my dad, and my grandfather, both had PhDs, and almost all of my close relatives have advanced degrees of some sort. There was a strong family "culture" that valued education for its own sake, along with a sense of education being the thing that "they can't take away from you," developed through the experiences of the Great Depression and the world wars. Those are the kinds of motivations that aren't really influenced by job market statistics.