MORALE is poor among British scientists and there is widespread disenchantment with government policies, a poll has shown. Of the 238 people who replied to a questionnaire in the magazine Laboratory News, 98 per cent said that morale was lower than a generation ago, and 97 per cent said that current policies discourage innovation.
鈥溞影稍磗 seem to be rejecting current policies unequivocally,鈥� says Brian Ford, the independent researcher who set the questions. Ninety-five per cent said that students reject science as a career because the pay and job security are poor, and 95 per cent rated government policy as short-sighted.