I wonder if some other country might be different? Brasil?

IIRC, countries with major resource extraction industries, internationally outsourced for lack of domestic expertise, with associated lost value capture, are more highly incentivized to increase STEM graduates. Unlike the US, where the research I recall, said there's no shortage outside of programming (and PhD flexibility). And indeed without programming, there'd be a large oversupply.

In addition to WoD and WoT and consumer product safety, there's also liability, and insurance, and others. I've been struck by increasing societal viscosity these last decades, and a seemingly increasing intolerance of risk and harm.

So perhaps some other country, with different internals and context, might be a ready market for 1960's US chemistry sets?