Not good news, unless they were spies! Where are they leaving to? Communist China?
"Even before the US government announced plans to crack down on perceived espionage by China in 2018, scientists of Chinese descent were leaving the US. Since then the numbers leaving have only accelerated as both junior and experienced faculty depart, according to a new analysis.
The work reveals that nearly 20,000 scientists of Chinese descent who began their careers in the US have left for other countries, including China, between 2010 and 2021, a team at Princeton, Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has found. ‘The migration has increased during those 12 years, from 900 scientists in 2010 to 2621 in 2021, with an accelerated departure rate (75% higher) in the last three years … coinciding with the launch of the China Initiative in 2018,’ the authors wrote in the supplementary material. ..."
From the significance and abstract:
"Significance
Our study reveals the widespread fear among scientists of Chinese descent in the United States arising from conducting routine research and academic activities. If this fear is not alleviated, there are significant risks of underutilization of scientific talent as well as losing scientific talent to China and other countries. Addressing the fear of US-based scientists of Chinese descent and making the American academic environment welcoming and attractive to all will help retain and attract scientific talent and strengthen the US global leadership in science and technology in the long run.
Abstract
The US global leadership in science and technology has greatly benefitted from immigrants from other countries, most notably from China in the recent decades. However, feeling the pressure of potential federal investigations since the 2018 launch of the China Initiative, scientists of Chinese descent in the United States now face higher incentives to leave the United States and lower incentives to apply for federal grants. Analyzing data pertaining to institutional affiliations of more than 200 million scientific papers, we find a steady increase in the return migration of scientists of Chinese descent from the United States to China. We also conducted a survey of scientists of Chinese descent employed by US universities in tenured or tenure-track positions (n = 1,304), with results revealing general feelings of fear and anxiety that lead them to consider leaving the United States and/or stop applying for federal grants. If the situation is not corrected, American science will likely suffer the loss of scientific talent to China and other countries."
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