US lead in science shrinks
online.wsj.com
online.wsj.com
Ah, sweet irony...you rarely see it put so plainly in print. I wonder if the report noted the percentage of US natural science doctorates who have in-field employment after graduation? It might go a long way toward explaining why US students aren't doing it anymore.
As one of the people who filled out the survey in 2007, I think it's telling that even today, not all of my PhD friends who graduated in 2007 have jobs in their field (and no, I don't count "post-doctoral research" as a job). If the US wants more PhDs in the sciences, they're going to have to do something about the labor market for scientists. Right now, it's a sucker's bet, and smart kids know it.
I think a different, but similar problem is the crazy student visa policy in the U.S. We happily allow foreign nationals to come study in the U.S. but they aren't allowed to legally work while here, and they can't easily convert that student visa into permanent residency like the vast majority of them probably want to at some point.
Some folks manage to do it, but often as not, you see some poor slob who's been trying to find someplace that'll hire them and sponsor them for an H1-B, and ends up staying in school forever in order to keep their student visa active, all the while sucking up a slot at the school that some other kid could use. And of course in order to keep their student visa active and ensure they can have their best chances to convert it to an H1-B, they don't go back home and they can't see their families.
I've never really understood the logic of the policy. It would make more sense to me if we actively tried to keep these folks, and convert them from school to skilled work force as rapidly as possible.