America and brain drain
It's happening
Brain drain. The departure of the scientific, artistic and other intellectual or creative communities from one country because domestic political conditions make it unsafe, or unwise, for such people to remain.
History reminds us that one reason to account for America’s prestigious position in areas such as science is that it consistently opened its arms to people fleeing persecution, no matter where in the world that was happening. Likewise, immigration policies that welcomed such scholars ensured that the US benefitted from intellectual firepower whether it was created at home or brought in from elsewhere.
Now, America risks suffering from brain drain.
The US magazine Nature recently released the results of a poll that should frighten America’s political elite and the higher education community. More than 1,600 scientists took part in the survey, and more than 75 percent of them admitted that they were considering leaving the country. The consensus: They would like to go to “anywhere that supports science.” Keep in mind that men and women from the science and technology disciplines are not alone in thinking about walking out the door.
For some, departure includes being amenable to going to a country they have never called home. Perhaps they have family, friends or professional colleagues there. Perhaps the primary spoken language is one they already know. Europe and Canada are two often-heard locations when the preceding factors are considered.
Three scholars from Yale University belong on this list. Philosophy professor Jason Stanley along with historians Marci Shore and Timothy Snyder announced in late March that they will join the faculty at the University of Toronto. Stanley left little doubt why the trio is departing: “I love Yale,” he said. “But Marci, Tim and I, we’re gonna go defend democracy somewhere else.” He fears that the bullying consistently displayed by the President of the United States toward higher education (among other institutions) has reached the point that no scholar in the US can be certain that his or her university will come to his or her aid if facing the wrath of the White House.
Others say that returning to their homeland, with all the benefits associated with such a relocation, is in their best interest. Chen Min is one such example. She has left her US academic home of more than a decade and will continue her career at Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), Ningbo. Consider that the webpage listing her academic publications remains visible and it includes well over 20 publications. Granted, her husband also teaches at EIT, but the larger point cannot be lost: China will continue to benefit from elite scholars from multiple disciplines working at Chinese institutions.
An estimated 19,955 Chinese-born scientists left the US in 2020 and 2021, a period in which Donald Trump’s dangerous rhetoric about China and COVID created an environment of fear among the community of Chinese scholars throughout the country. The overwhelming number of them returned to China. In examining the exodus, one writer suggested that these “scientists have played a pivotal role in advancing US innovation, contributing extensively to cutting-edge research and critical sectors like defense and technology.”
And now? “The movement of these scientists signifies a potential weakening in the diversity and output of US-based research.”
Another factor ought not be overlooked: China already graduates far more men and women studying science and technology than does the United States. That gap ought to continue to widen in the coming years. If it does, then more and more of those graduates will learn from some of the absolute best. Such preparation will increase the chances that they will make the most startling of discoveries in the future.
Do enough people in Washington and more specifically at the White House understand the ramifications?
Meanwhile, American scholars who have shown no indication of leaving their homeland are also afraid. The Associated Press has reported that “U.S.-Chinese research collaboration is shrinking.” It adds: “Academics are shying away from potential China projects over fears that seemingly minor missteps could end their careers.”
US citizens are often told that their country’s freedoms explain why thousands upon thousands of people, including the most educated, from across the globe want to live and work in America. That story now rings hollow.
Over the past few decades, the United States built the largest innovation engine the world has ever seen, but that engine risks short circuiting. And the reason can be traced to one factor, or perhaps it is better to say to one person. An unceasing barrage of rhetoric directed at foreign-born and especially Chinese-born researchers combined with numerous examples of such scholars facing trumped up charges of wrongdoing have made the US a dangerous place.
Brain drain weakens the country suffering from it for decades. That must not be forgotten.