Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/03/science/03visa.html?ref=education
America’s economy depends on the creative industries. Automobiles are failing. We have outsourced a large portion of our manufacturing. We just do not have the cheap labor that other nations have to succeed in a low skill industries. Nor should we want to regress. The creative jobs are those that are high in earnings. They support the enlarging service class and provide the cushiest jobs. Yet our nation seems to be impeding the development of these jobs by limiting the ability of foreign students to study in America.
While this may not seem important, consider that many foreign students are needed to “fill slots in graduate and postdoctoral science and engineering programs.” Students who come out of these programs are going to fill those jobs needed in Silicon Valley. They are the creative minds that fuel the technological revolution. We need to keep these people here because, as of now, America is where the most opportunity is. We have the ease of capital movement needed to finance these great ventures like Google.
What is more important, however, is that companies move to where the best workers are (according to The Rise of the Creative Class, by Richard Florida). If some intelligent students are discouraged by tough standards for visas, they may stay put. If that happens, coupled with the rise of internet and greater connectivity, the companies with those high paying jobs will relocate abroad. That, simply put, means more white collar jobs will be leaving the US. This is certainly undesirable, because foreigners have played such a huge role in American history. Einstein, Oppenheimer, Brin (Google founder), and Du Pont were all born in different countries and came to America, increasing our worldwide economic dominance.
What is also important is the need for national security. The nationalities that are having a hard time getting into the US are those from risky regions. These include the former Soviet Union and Middle East. The two are not mutually exclusive. US can have both if properly run. This means eliminating bureaucracy and increasing efficiency. How that can be done, we do not know. But it is certainly an issue that the US must face if maintaining economic dominance is a priority.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Related article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/science/27essa.html?8dpc
I completely agree with what you are saying, Ross, about the importance of foreign-born students to the United States. The importance of these international students becomes evident much earlier than 2009. Fifty years ago, many of the United States’ scientific leaders came from Europe. There are famous names like Einstein (as you said), Fermi, and Teller – with who we might have not been able to be the first to build the atomic and hydrogen bombs. In addition, Wernher Von Braun, a German rocket physicist and astronautics engineer, became one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in the United States. There are enormous numbers of foreign scientists that have contributed to the backbone of America’s state-of-the-art technology.
In addition to the importance of foreign scientist to the United States, international students studying in the United States are vitally important. International exchanges of students and skilled professionals can benefit both the sending and receiving countries. Certainly, the United States science and engineering research enterprise depends critically on international students and scholars (as you said, Ross). The United States has relied upon and steadily growing influx of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars from all around the world. International students now constitute roughly a third of the United States science and engineering graduate school enrollments, and this number is increasing.
America’s economy depends on the creative industries that these international students flourish in. Making it harder to obtain visas will eventually cripple some of these industries – such as science and technology. The fear of scientists about losing international students due to the visa process will come to fruition when the industries are drained of international talents. The fear that is ultimately created is that the international talent will remain in their home countries, forcing some American industries to relocate abroad. This would lead to a higher unemployment rate than we currently have – a problem that we are not ready to address yet.
Reading these, I’m a little confused at some parts which are preventing me from agreeing with the two of you.
First, recently I have not seen any shortage of foreign students on college campuses. Especially walking around our campus, it’s surprising that you would make that claim. In my classes, I have people from a large variety of countries. Even areas that you have identified as especially tough, like the Middle East and Soviet Union. Maybe it is just the type of school that we go to, but if anything I feel like the amount of foreign students is not decreasing, but increasing. In fact, an advantage that was repeatedly mentioned to Bentley gaining the title of university was the international pull we would now have. Also, why is there a need to fill slots in these programs? The past couple of years have been extremely competitive for placement in higher education. Your posts make it seem like we are dramatically lacking foreign students, which I simply don’t think is the case based on my own experiences.
Another thing I disagree about is why we need foreign students? Your posts make it seem as if Americans are not capable of working in these careers. I do not oppose foreign students, but I don’t think they are more deserving or capable of working these jobs than we are. In these times of such high unemployment and competition, we shouldn’t be handing out spots to others.
Integrating students from other countries into our education system is certainly of extreme importance. International collaboration is of tremendous importance in many industries and is getting even more prevalent. Fostering and accepting diversity is stressed more now than ever before. Without beginning teamwork with international students at the university level, graduating seniors entering the workforce may be unprepared for it.
Melanie’s point that international students are not “needed” to fill some jobs is correct; Americans certainly may be capable of holding positions in these technologically advanced careers. However, the idea is that some people are just going to be more successful and innovative than others. We do not want to prohibit those people from entering the United States when they could invent something for which the country would be very grateful. If we bar international students from studying in the United States we run the risk of prohibiting someone that, if coupled with the talents of a few more students at the same university such as M.I.T. or Harvard, could create something amazing that would revolutionize not only the country but the world. We will not know of the consequences of denying visas for some time, they could be minimal or they could be drastic. It is better to avoid these consequences entirely by permitting foreign students to study in the U.S.
I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and disagree with you here Emily. Dave makes a very good point: it is not that Americans are incapable of doing the job, it is that some foreign students may be better suited. To prevent foreign students from coming to America to study is to withhold an opportunity from both foreign students and the United States of America.
Yes, America's industries (specifically the creative industries) benefit from a steady flow of some of the world's brightest minds. And yes, these bright minds benefit from an education that is sometimes better or at least a better fit than one that can be received at an institution close to home.
But beyond this, foreign exchange promotes diversity and cultural sensitivity that have value in the professional world. American students are positively affected by an influx of foreign students because it provides another avenue for social learning. Living with a person from another country broadens horizons and shatters previous perceptions. The very presence of foreign students opens a new door for American college students, a door that will allow them to prosper and better understand others, a vital skill.
One may argue that this is an exaggeration, that there really is little to be learned. I would counter that it is the fault of the person that does not seize the opportunity and not the lack of the opportunity. In other words, if you don't learn, it's your own fault. Others might insist that foreign students are only competition that threaten American workers. This has some truth, but competition breeds excellence. The more competitive the professional climate is, the stronger the American worker will become. Foreign students and foreign workers that compete with natives for jobs only make us better competitors.
To conclude, everything that we can (within a realistic and ethical realm) do to welcome foreign students should be done. I do not condone accepting students that do not deserve to be accepted, but all foreign students that measure up to a school's criteria that have a desire to study in America should be able to do so without a problem. One last thing: it would be absolutely impossible to make an assessment of the lack/excess of foreign students based on what we have experienced here at Bentley. To say that we have enough foreign students here based on walking around and making casual observations cannot be taken seriously. I'll trust the scientists in the NY Times article over my short and unofficial impressions here at Bentley.
Post a Comment