From my interactions with students and postdocs in biology (im not a scientist myself but work in biotech), there is a culture in many research institutions that views working in industry as "inferior" and glorifies the tenure track as the only respectable option. Though the odds are terrible of getting tenure even for scientists with top notch publication records, many scientists pursue that path, just as many entrepreneurs think they will start a billion dollar company even when the odds nearly guarantee they wont

I know scientists with PhDs from top-5 universities doing postdocs in highly regarded labs who have only seen a handful of job postings in their 15 years in academia. Many scientists focus solely on the tenure track, and only reconsider after a few years in a postdoc shows them how hard it is