Georgiann Baldino
Sheril KirshenbaumWhere to go for a PhD? Change of interest from non-US students.
Source: Economist, 2025 https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/05/21/america-is-in-danger-of-experiencing-an-academic-brain-drain #science #uspol
Omar Antolín@Sheril I've specifically advised my students to not go to the US. I haven't convinced any so far, but they seem at least somewhat aware of the risks.
Fenix
FurballsNHairballs@Sheril
Watch those brain drains siphon away all our talent. Trump has succeeded in destroying America, and 47% of the country didn't give a shit..
Watch those brain drains siphon away all our talent. Trump has succeeded in destroying America, and 47% of the country didn't give a shit..
Mike Loukides@Sheril I can't imagine an international student wanting to study in the US at this time. Be in the wrong place, say the wrong thing, and you're exported to a death camp.
mastodonphan@Sheril Damn, that graph really says it all.
zaunkoenig@mast0d0nphan @Sheril The graph has not units and the methods are unclear due to the paywall. So what is clear about it?
Robin Barton@Sheril Have degree, will travel. Too many countries feel that they are owed something
Alex Danila@Sheril Wow, I wonder why Canada is so low on the ranking. I can speculate as to why, but I’m curious to know what the students themselves are factoring into their decision.
Sadie
Glen, waiting for the pre-poll@eadanila @Sheril [Australian here] I imagine it's distance and marketing. Australian universities have been marketing into Asia for generations now.
There's also the issue of flights. If you or your parents are worried about US ICE and the risk of ending up in a death camp then you're hardly about to transit via San Francisco into Canada.
Luís de Araújo@Sheril Australian researchers have the highest decorum and care for correctness I ever came across in my career. Students are right!
Pomegranate_Stew@Sheril
Good. I hope they go where they’re wanted and safe. Unfortunately, neither of those apply to the US right now and we don’t deserve their presence.
Good. I hope they go where they’re wanted and safe. Unfortunately, neither of those apply to the US right now and we don’t deserve their presence.
kralcttam ☕️
Kevin RussellTrumps purpose is to make America be hated.
Ian
Darwin Woodka@darwinwoodka @Sheril Yeah, I kind of assumed it was proximity to the US. That, and the stereotype that people think it's winter all the time here.
@Sheril The meaning of "Make America great again"? 🤔 I do fear, America has never before been so mentally and intellectual poor, as right now? 😥
BenderIsGreat34
AlexanderVIWell, PhD students.
Huge amounts of post secondary funding come from international undergraduates' tuition.
@AlexanderVI @Sheril @fulelo Is a phd student not a student? Not sure what point you are trying to make beyond what I said about Canada not attracting foreign students, who tend to stick around afterward.
I'm making the point that Canada is not bad at attracting students at all.
The particular type of student represented by the graph, we apparently do not attract well, despite our overall success in attracting students.
The "sticking around" problem is a different kettle of fish (one we should definitely be concerned about though, I agree).
@Sheril Perhaps USA for the next few years perhaps not a good place for independent critical thinking?I Don’t blame them.
Europe 1 USA 0.
Europe 1 USA 0.
EaterOfSnacks@Sheril Faintly surprised that the UK is still trending positive, however slightly.
Daniel DetlafCurious if it is the US dragging Canada down and if so, sorry 😕
Seiðr
Abstract_Bit@Sheril : Someone it's not interested to this loss.His or her interest are power, money, and always being right.
🤨 🤨
🤨 🤨
KanaMauna
Alavi | علوی@Sheril
I think US is doing a sly smart thing here.
PhD students cost money for the government. Training them is costly.
Why train PhD students when they can let other countries pay for the expenses and then absorb most of them to the US for needed work.
Not ethical or good, but sly.
@Sheril What is the unit? What does "change of interest" mean? Unfortunately, there is a pay wall.
true of all economist stories really
Amin Girasol@zaunkoenig @Sheril percentage change on a year earlier.
Unpaywalled link: https://archive.is/2025.05.23-072831/https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/05/21/america-is-in-danger-of-experiencing-an-academic-brain-drain
@fluidlogic @Sheril Aha, percentage change webpage views. That is a more difficult to interpret than it seems (crawlers, SEO).
Tofu Golem@Sheril
This kind of brain drain is how you dismantle civilizations.
This kind of brain drain is how you dismantle civilizations.
Paul Schoonhoven 🍉 🍋@alterelefant @Sheril and he is just starting this proces. 🙈
But with AI I think they seems to think there is no need for education anymore. 😒
Frank Heijkamp@vosje62 @Sheril It is like what the Khmer Rouge did, anyone who uses their brains are being expelled. We know that this will reduce the innovation power of an economy drastically. It will ruin everything and make a country poorer in the long run. Trump is making Russia great again by making sure America gets less in the way of the ambitions of the Kremlin.
DP0@Sheril Have you seen the comparatively low ranking of Britain in this list? Well, their universities were much more popular 5 years ago, but Brexit and a surge in right-wing isolationism in post-Brexit Britain made a considerable dent.
Well, Trump 2.0 is actually one Brexit per day combined with a Stalinist personality cult - hence, it's even more disastrous than the already quite straining Brexit.
J. David Eisenberg@Sheril Enhanced #AltText4You Bar graph; numbers on x-axis do not have units (possibly %)?
Australia +42
Switzerland +41
Italy +38
Sweden +21
Netherlands +18
Germany +14
UK +10
Spain +8
Canada -1
US -22
(These are my best visual estimates of the values.)