Stuck in Visa Debate, U.S. Risks Losing Researchers

[RKP5637]

One more step forward for Idiocracy in the USA!

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/14/world/americas/stuck-in-visa-debate-us-risks-losing-researchers.html?action=click&contentCollection=Americas

WASHINGTON — For years, United States policy makers have been debating the idea of granting green cards to foreigners with science doctorates. The cell biologist Xiao-Wei Chen, at the University of Michigan, is no longer waiting for them to decide.

Mr. Chen, whose work on cholesterol metabolism helped him win a job competition this year at the National Institutes of Health, is instead making plans to return home to China and his undergraduate institution, Peking University.

Yet Mr. Chen might also be a warning flag: As Congress debates whether to extend green-card privileges to foreign students earning doctorates in the sciences, the question may be growing moot. Top-ranking students are already finding that they can stay if they want — and many do not. The nation’s continuing disinvestment in science is making overseas options appear increasingly attractive.

“Anybody in academe knows,” says Michael S. Teitelbaum, a Harvard University expert in the global competition for scientific talent, “the offers coming from Chinese institutions are getting more and more attractive.”

As the world grows more interconnected, says Mr. Simon, distance from the United States becomes less of an impediment to career success.

[Mnemosyne]

1. K&R for visibility. nt

[pnwmom]

2. So what's the problem? A US scientist will be happy to take that job.

The "shortage" in STEM fields is contrived.

Here in Seattle, take Boeing, for example. Tthey're laying off thousands of highly qualified, highly educated scientists and engineers -- some at the top of the world in their field. And they're replacing them with new hires at four "centers of excellence" in non-union states -- 40% of whom will be new degree holders.

So I don't mind a bit if some of the Phd's we educated here decide to take their degrees back to help develop their own countries.

[RKP5637]

4. You make a very good point, as usual! At the time I posted this I was thinking purely

in terms of the pursuit of knowledge, which IMO in the ideal world has no borders. ... then, came capitalizing on the benefit of cheap labor ... and the destruction of American jobs for the benefit of cheap labor. ... naively, for that instance, I forgot about the latter in my initial post. Sometimes I tend to think in the ideal world forgetting how often is it corrupted in favor monetary value. I see your point!

[pnwmom]

5. Thank you! Yes, that would be the ideal world. But, as you know, displaced US scientists have

no chance of getting jobs in China -- even if they wanted to leave everything here and go there.

And yes -- everything has become about cheap labor. And it's about turning human beings, as much as possible, into interchangeable robots for corporations.

I remember reading years ago in an engineering magazine about how engineers would have to get used to frequent job changes -- around the world. Well, not everyone is cut out for that kind of life. MOST people are not cut out for that kind of life -- constant moves, just to maintain some reasonable standard of living. And not just frequent moves, but moves all over the world. And yet there was no recognition at all in the magazine piece about the kind of impact this new career path would have on human lives.

[n2doc]

6. Exactly

I've been the chair on several faculty searches, and committee member on several others. There are ALWAYS at least 10-20 very highly qualified applicants for every faculty opening (even small schools) in a broad field like Biology or Chemistry. Often there are more than 100 applicants for a position. I'm not going to shed tears about losing some scientists to other countries.

[LittleBlue]

3. Fine with me. Let him go back to his own country

More jobs for citizens, and less brain drain on the countries that need their scientists to build domestic businesses. Win-win.

[kath]

7. And what about the fact that the US is losing lots and lots of *US* researchers because NIH funding

Has been decimated. Something like 1000 labs have been shut down in the past decade or less.
We are losing a whole generation of scientists, and they're not coming back.

it's absolutely shameful.

[RKP5637]

8. It is! I recall when I was at the university how important NIH funding was. I often wonder

just where are TPTB trying to take the US. We are not post WWII now where the US was sort of the only game in town. Other countries are taking the lead and day-by-day the US sinks farther and farther down in world rankings in so many areas. ... eventually, the bubble will burst and is already leaking badly!