Regional
Global Mobility in Science Research
It’s no secret that there’s a great deal of international mobility in the science world, but reliable, consistent figures are hard to come by. A recent attempt by Nature to sift through the data, talk to experts and conduct their own survey of 2,300 readers around the world, has resulted in some interesting findings with regard to underlying trends in scientists’ movements, motivating factors for that movement and what the future might hold.
Of the world’s most highly cited scientists from 1981 to 2003, one in eight were born in developing countries, but 80 percent of those had since moved to developed countries (mostly the United States), according to a 2010 study by Bruce Weinberg at Ohio State University. Yet the global picture of these migrations is blurry. When tracking arrivals and departures, most countries lump scientists with other ‘highly skilled migrants,’ and recordkeeping differs from country to country. A new study, the ‘GlobSci’ survey, to be published in Nature Biotechnology in December, will look to cut through the confusion. The authors asked around 17,000 researchers in four fields (biology, chemistry, Earth and environmental sciences and materials) in 16 countries in early 2011 about their movements; the result was what they call “the first systematic study of the mobility of scientists in a large number of countries.”
The numbers show big disparities from country to country, both in the proportion of scientists with foreign origins and in the proportion of researchers who work outside their countries of origin. In the United States, 38 percent of the respondents working or studying there were brought up overseas, and it is the number-one destination for expatriate scientists from almost every nation. Proportionally, however, Switzerland, Canada and Australia all housed more foreign researchers than the United States, with Switzerland having the highest foreign share, at 57 percent. India had the lowest proportion of foreign scientists, followed by Italy and Japan, but also the largest diaspora, with 40 percent of its home-born researchers working overseas. (The survey did not include China.) Japanese and U.S. researchers were the least likely to be working abroad.
The Nature survey found that those scientists who had just obtained their PhDs were much more likely to be living outside their country of upbringing than were more senior scientists-and they were also more open to an international move, presumably because their career paths were not settled and they were less likely to be tied down by relationships and families. The proportion of respondents who said they were “not interested” in international relocation rose from just 10 percent among those who gained their doctorates within the past two years to 40 percent in those who had done their PhD at least 16 years ago.
But what are the motivating factors behind academic mobility? In the GlobSci survey, migrants uniformly put the same two factors at the top: opportunities to improve their career prospects and outstanding research teams. The excellence of the foreign institution was also important, with quality of life and other personal reasons coming further down the list. For those who had migrated abroad and subsequently returned to their country of origin, however, personal and family reasons scored highest.
But wealth is not the whole picture: dynamic, flexible and competitive systems for funding and advancement are also crucial. Japan and Italy, for example, are wealthy nations yet attract few foreign scientists because of their relatively rigid bureaucracy. A rigid system can also discourage native-born researchers from emigrating.
Research from the University of Liverpool suggests that shorter, more frequent visits are increasingly supplementing long-term travel to other labs. With the Internet making it easier to work with international collaborators at a distance, repeated week- or month-long visits can yield as much as, if not more than, a half-year stay. The question will become how long researchers will need to spend in the same place for effective collaboration-an answer that will surely differ between disciplines.
Science may increasingly be a globalized enterprise, but until would-be competitors boost their spending on science and facilities, it will simply give scientists even more opportunities to clump inside the countries that are already at the top of the pack, concludes the Nature article.
– Nature [1]
October 17, 2012
Brazil
United States Top Choice for Students on International Scientific Mobility Scholarships
The United States currently hosts the largest number of students participating in the Brazilian government’s Scientific Mobility Program, according to a briefing paper released in October by the Institute of International Education (IIE).
The paper, The Brazil Scientific Mobility Undergraduate Program in the United States: A New Phase in U.S. Brazil Educational Exchange, presents findings from an analysis of the first year of the program in the United States. In July 2011, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced the creation of a new scholarship program known as Ciência sem Fronteiras, a multiyear initiative to send 75,000 fully funded Brazilian students abroad for training in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, with an additional 25,000 scholarships expected to be funded by the private sector. Scholarships are available for students to study in their choice of one of more than 12 countries. The United States currently hosts the largest number of these Brazilian students, followed by France, Portugal, and Spain.
To help U.S. institutions implement and sustain partnerships with institutions in Brazil, IIE has also announced the launch of a new International Academic Partnership Program with Brazil.
Report Highlights:
- According to the report, 1,954 Brazilian undergraduate scholarship students have been placed at 238 U.S. host institutions in 46 U.S. states as of the fall 2012 semester. The program is projected to enroll 2,500 students per academic year for the next five years of the program.
- Nearly three-fourths (71 percent) of the students are enrolled in engineering and computer science courses, specifically in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer sciences, industrial engineering, and chemical engineering.
- The top five U.S. host states are: California, New York, Michigan, Illinois, and Ohio.
- The leading U.S. host institutions are University of California – Davis, University of Nebraska – Lincoln, Iowa State University, University of Colorado – Boulder, University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, and Western Michigan University, each hosting more than 30 Brazilian undergraduate scholarship students.
– IIE News Release [2]
October 30, 2012
UK Universities Too Expensive for Brazilian Students
Brazilian students are avoiding British universities because they are prohibitively expensive, reports Times Higher Education, citing Rodrigo Gaspar, education promotion manager at the British Council in Rio de Janeiro. He said that despite the UK being the third most highly favored study destination for Brazilians after Canada and the US, it was only fifth in terms of market share.
“The reason we don’t have more people in the UK is connected to money. Self-funded students need £12,000 ($20,000) to study in the UK, plus £10,000 ($16,000) to live there for a year. In France and Germany, [the fees are] practically zero,” he said.
According to data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency [3], just 1,355 Brazilians studied in UK higher education institutions in 2010-11, compared with 3,405 Russians and 67,325 Chinese. This is despite UK universities having ramped up their recruiting efforts in recent years.
Unlike European countries that charge low fees or the U.S., which offers a large number of international scholarships, the costs associated with UK study mean that students often have to save into their late twenties and early thirties to afford it. Because of the fees disparity, there are also only a small number of exchange agreements involving UK and Brazilian universities, which makes it difficult for students to come to the UK and vice versa, Gaspar said. “If you don’t have the agreement, you don’t have the power of the local university working for you…That hurts a great deal.”
– Times Higher Education [4]
November 8, 2012
University System to Keep Growing Despite Concerns Over Current Expansion
Under the most ambitious expansion of higher education in the history of Brazil, the country has added campuses in dozens of cities and towns throughout the nation over the past few years, and it is planning more, reports the Chronicle of Higher Education. But for every successful campus in once-ignored regions, there are others that have faced weak execution: a lack of space, a shortage of equipment, a lack of qualified staff, or a poorly thought-out curriculum.
The Reuni program, as it’s commonly known, was designed to expand Brazil’s elite, free public-university system and put campuses in the poor suburbs and rural, less-developed parts of the country. The project is considered vital in a nation where access to university is hampered by severe social and economic inequality, and high-skilled jobs often go unfilled.
Since 2003 the number of towns and cities with a public-university presence has more than doubled, and the number of seats available to students has risen from 109,000 to 243,000. However, some planned campuses never happened while at others the construction of adequate facilities has been put on hold due to bureaucratic roadblocks.
In the years since Reuni, or the Program for the Restructuring and Expansion of Federal Universities, started authorities have spent 10 billion reais (US$5 billion) on building and equipping four new universities and 145 new branches of existing universities. But some of the new institutions are among the best in Brazil, academics say, while others are among the worst.
Despite the program’s many problems, government officials promise further expansion of the system. They say Brazil cannot afford not to act. “We are building four new universities, and we are going to create 47 new campuses,” says Amaro Lins, the higher-education secretary. “There is a still a huge demand that we need to satisfy.”
– The Chronicle of Higher Education [5]
November 5, 2012
Canada
International Enrollments on the Rise
New university enrollment figures [6] from the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada [7] show a 12 percent increase in the number of international students in Canada this fall versus the same time last year. Among domestic students there was an increase of 3.4 percent in the graduate student population and two percentage points among undergraduates.
According to a July 2012 federal government report, international students pursuing their education in Canada generate 81,000 jobs, nearly C$8 billion in spending and more than C$445 million in government revenue.
– AUCC [6]
October 24, 2012
New Annual Internationalization Report Assesses Canada’s Performance and Potential
The Canada Bureau for International Education [8] reports that the number of international students in Canada has increased by 75 percent over the last decade to nearly 240,000 students in a new report.
The report, World of Learning: Canada’s Performance and Potential in International Education 2012 [9], reviews internationalization developments in the Canadian education space, including policy statements and strategies; marketing initiatives by the education sector and by governments; promoting pathways between education levels and types; and the report of the Advisory Panel on Canada’s International Education Strategy appointed by the federal government.
In addition to assessing policy developments, the report also tracks enrollment numbers and compares those to global competitors. In 2010, according to the report, Canada enrolled about 5 percent of internationally mobile students, making it the 7th most popular host country behind the United States, UK, France, China, Australia and Germany. China, India, Korea, Saudi Arabia and the United States, combined, make up more than half of Canada’s international students.
The report also includes the findings of a survey of 1,668 international students to assess their decision-making process in choosing Canada as their study destination. There are also chapters on Canadian study abroad trends, campus internationalization, and Canadian education overseas – with a focus on offshore campus developments as an area of growing interest for Canadian universities.
– Canadian Bureau of International Education [9]
November 5, 2012
Report: Canada Failing In Its Mission to Brand Itself As A World-Class Education Destination
A government program aimed at attracting international students to Canada is failing to do so, according to a recent report from Ipsos Reid [10], a marketing research firm.
The report surveyed prospective students, parents and university educational advisors in Brazil, China and India as a means of taking stock of Edu-Canada’s [11] “Imagine Education in Canada” brand. It found that, aside from Brazilian participants interested in language studies and one Brazilian education advisor, “Canada is not a top-of-mind destination for foreign study for participants of any of the three countries.”
Imagine Education in Canada, launched by the federal government in 2008, aims to brand Canada as a top study destination for international students. The program, in its fourth year, was allocated C$1 million a year for five years.
“While participants believe that Canada as a developed country must have an adequate level of education, there is no perception of a Canadian education advantage compared to others,” the report read. Participants expressed a preference for educational institutions in the UK and the U.S., citing their prestigious reputations and high placement in world university rankings.
– iPolitics [12]
October 31, 2012
Agents: Canada Rising in Popularity Among International Students
According to the findings of a recent survey of recruiting agents, Canada is becoming increasingly attractive as an international study destination, while the United Kingdom is losing a bit of its luster.
The ICEF i-graduate Agent Barometer [13], now in its sixth year, polled 1,023 agents from 107 countries in 2012 and found that the United States is perceived by 73 percent of agents as a very attractive destination for international students, followed by Canada and the UK tied in second place (64 percent each), Australia in third place with 48 percent, and New Zealand in fourth (32 percent), just ahead of Germany (31 percent).
Since 2008, Canada has risen 15 percentage points in its perceived attractiveness among education agents. This compares to a gain of 5 percent for the U.S., 3 percent for New Zealand, 1 percent for Australia and a loss of 7 percent for the UK. Asian agents in particular registered a great surge in how attractive they consider Canada. Among emerging markets for study abroad (the top ones being China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, and South Africa), attractiveness rankings remained mostly stable year-over-year with China and Japan in the lead.
– ICEF Monitor [13]
October 29, 2012
United States
Share of Young People With Undergraduate Degrees Reaches All-Time High
The proportion of 25- to 29-year-olds in the United States who have earned an undergraduate degree reached a record high in 2012, with one-third of that age group earning at least a bachelor’s degree, according to a report [14] released in November by the Pew Research Center’s Social and Demographic Trends project.
The report, which draws on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, says that the share of young adults earning bachelor’s degrees has increased steadily over the last four decades, to 33 percent in 2012 from 17 percent in 1971.
– Pew Research Center [14]
November 5, 2012
Two New Programs for Medical Students Looking to Study Abroad
Under two new programs announced recently at the annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges [15], fourth-year medical students will find it easier to spend a year abroad, and recent graduates could have student loans forgiven while training medical faculty in developing countries.
Approximately 65 percent of first-year medical students in the United States express interest in studying abroad during their four years of medical school, but only 35 percent manage to do so, Janette Samaan, who directs the association’s new Global Health Learning Opportunities [16] consortium said. Central and South America are the most popular destinations, with 36 percent of the student trips, followed by Africa, with 22 percent.
The association’s new consortium facilitates study abroad for fourth-year students who are interested in clinical, research, or public-health electives outside their home countries. The exchanges go both ways, with students from developing countries studying in the United States as well.
Twenty-four medical schools in 15 countries participated in the association’s pilot project. It includes a Web-based platform where students can search for and apply to programs offering overseas electives. Medical schools can post their electives and review student applications, and programs can share information about courses or features like pre-departure videos.
Another session at the meeting featured a new Peace Corps for doctors and nurses, which will send its first participants to teach in medical schools in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda in the summer of 2013. The program will repay up to $30,000 in student loans for each year of service.
– The Chronicle of Higher Education [17]
November 5, 2012
International Enrollments at U.S. Graduate Schools Continue Upward Trajectory
New enrollments among international students at American graduate schools rose by 8 percent this fall, inline with growth from last year, and once again fueled largely by China, according to survey results [18] released in November by the Council of Graduate Schools [19].
This fall, enrollments of new students from China increased by 22 percent, according to the survey, essentially the same as last year’s increase of 21 percent and marking the seventh consecutive year of double-digit growth. Enrollments from Brazil also increased significantly, by 14 percent. The survey, which is the third part of the council’s annual look at various aspects of the international-student market, received responses from 265 institutions.
– Council of Graduate Schools [18]
November 9, 2012
Number of Test-Takers for Law Admissions Drops Again
Data released recently [20] by the Law School Admissions Council for testing volume to October, typically the most popular month for prospective law students to take the Law School Admission Test, shows that the legal field continues to be declining in popularity.
The 37,780 people that took the LSAT in October represented a 16.4 percent decline from October 2011, and the total that year was a 16.9 percent drop from the total in October 2010, which itself was a 10.5 percent drop from 2009. The 2011-12 October total is the lowest of the new millennium and just 1,000 higher than the 1987-88 academic year total for October.
– The Law School Admissions Council [20]
November 20, 2012
Visa Requirements for Students Needing Language Training to Tighten
Colleges will no longer be able to grant visa documents to degree-seeking foreign students who first need to improve their English skills, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The change could affect an increasingly common route into American institutions, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education.
The Student and Exchange Visitor Program [21] (SEVP) is signaling that it will require universities to issue separate I-20 forms, the immigration documents needed to apply for student visas, to students who need to improve their English before beginning regular academic courses under a practice known as conditional admissions, or through bridge programs. Only after they demonstrate proficiency will they be granted a second I-20 for academic study.
Officials with SEVP emphasized they were not putting in place a new policy but rather enforcing existing federal guidelines. “Per federal regulations, conditional admission is prohibited,” said Ernestine Fobbs, a spokeswoman with the Department of Homeland Security. The rule in question requires prospective students to meet all standards for admission before they can be given an I-20 to pursue academic coursework, with no exemptions.
– The Chronicle of Higher Education [22]
November 19, 2012