The Accidental Brain Drain of Canada
According to University Affairs, Adam Crymble described developing in a small town in Ontario, Canada. He felt as though Canadians who moved abroad were traitors in some sense.
“They had shunned our country for monetary gain, or sunshine or fame.” Crymble said, “But I’ve become one of those people ? part of the nation’s brain drain ? and I can assure you that it was entirely accidental.”
Hundreds of Canadian citizens travel abroad each year. Some don’t come back. In short, we undergo a Canadian brain drain to other countries. We lose some of our brightest.
U.S. applicants at Canadian universities on the rise
The Globe and Mail reports that Canadian universities have been a “surge” in applicants from the United States. It is not “that today’s students are dodging Donald Trump the way their grandparents dodged Vietnam, university admission experts say.”
Rather, according to many Canadian universities, U.S. applicants for the 2017-18 academic year increased by 20% to 80% based on an informal survey by The Globe and Mail. For example, “Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., say they have seen applications from the United States increase by more than 60 per cent.”
The source of the uptick in applicants appears to be the successful efforts for recruitment of American students to come to Canadian universities. Also, the drop in the Canadian dollar appears to be an incentive too.
Even with higher education credentials, Asian job seekers face challenges
The Toronto Star notes that a recent study found job applicants with “Asian names and Canadian qualifications” are called less for interviews compared to “their counterparts with Anglo-Canadian names even when they have a better education.”
The study examined “interview callback rates for resumés with Asian and Anglo names.” Those with Asian names were called less. The size of the company applied to did not affect the outcomes for the number of calls.
A master’s degree can increase the Asian candidate opportunities for a callback. However, Anglo applicants with equivalent undergraduate qualifications received many more callbacks. They were better off.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen is an AUSU Councillor. He works with various organizations, and runs In-Sight: Independent Interview-Based Journal, and In-Sight Publishing.
