Why did Thomas Henry Huxley struggle to find a science job after returning from HMS Rattlesnake?

Upon returning from his voyage on HMS Rattlesnake in 1850, Thomas Henry Huxley struggled to secure an academic position in science primarily due to the prevailing social and educational climate in Britain at the time.1

Academic science posts were exceptionally rare because the country’s leadership, trained at Oxbridge, focused heavily on the classics. Furthermore, the public schools of the era often viewed the study of science as dehumanizing. Despite his growing scientific reputation and election as a fellow of the Royal Society of London, Huxley found that his achievements brought him significant praise but no stable employment, leading him to experience periods of depression as he sought to establish science as a viable, paying profession.1