The arts are an excellent counter-example disproving the claim that able people avoid professions where the measure of product quality is poor. But there are examples within the sciences, too. The summaries I've seen (as well as folk knowledge) indicate that chemists are substantially less intelligent than psychologists. (Physicists, however, are smarter than psychologists.)

I think the mistaken assumption stems from the egocentric fallacy: we exaggerate how similar others are to ourselves. Recognition is only one of various motives in choosing a field, and let's not overlook the obvious, interest in the subject matter.