Foreign Students Do Impact Job Market

I would like to comment on the letter in the March 1996 issue entitled "Don't Blame Foreigners for Job Problems," by Munawar Karim. Karim asserts that xenophobia fuels the concern with the effect of foreign-born scientists and engineers. It is insulting to U.S. citizen physicists when Karim says that "the standards of Ph.D. qualifying exams are occasionally lowered to allow U.S. students to pass in order to preserve balance." This suggests that the credentials of U.S. citizen Ph.D.s (mine, for example) may be suspect, and seems to imply that foreign graduates may actually be preferable.

I do recognize that fewer able Americans are choosing physics, both at the undergraduate and graduate level. I believe there are good reasons for this that have little to do with the adequacy of basic schooling. In many cases, undergraduate programs are neglected by faculties which emphasize research and graduate programs. I was fortunate to major in physics at a university where the faculty was committed to undergraduate teaching, and labs were handled by professors or full-time instructors.

On considering graduate school, potential students must weigh the considerable investment in time against the likelihood of finding appropriate employment. Karim says that physics students should expect long hours, low pay and job insecurity, and this is a description of an immigrant's work. Yes, all of these items must be accepted, to a degree. There are at least two factors concerning pay and security which, in my opinion, may favor some foreign students.

First, U.S. tax treaties with some foreign governments exempt assistantships from U.S. taxes. Citizens of these countries in effect receive more income than U.S. citizens or foreigners who must pay tax. Karim suggests that low pay is part of the bargain, but now it seems that income is even lower for U.S. citizens than for some foreign students. The second factor I see as favoring some foreign students is the "fall-back" position. In general, U.S. citizens are restricted to the U.S. job market. Foreign nationals can make an attempt to crack the U.S. market, and then return home if they do not succeed here.

I believe that the physics graduate education establishment will eventually be unable to justify expending considerable resources to educate a preponderantly foreign student base, many of whom are not able to pursue careers for which they were trained. We must address this issue.

Arnold R. Moodenbaugh
Westhampton, New York

***

Given that the APS is spending a substantial amount of effort to re-orient physicists in other technical careers, I would be curious to know why the Society does not take a stand on the importation of more foreign-born scientists and engineers.

Stephen M. Hohs
San Jose, California

©1995 - 2024, AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY
APS encourages the redistribution of the materials included in this newspaper provided that attribution to the source is noted and the materials are not truncated or changed.

Editor: Barrett H. Ripin

July 1996 (Volume 5, Number 7)

APS News Home

Issue Table of Contents

APS News Archives

Contact APS News Editor


Articles in this Issue
Highlights from Indianapolis: Trapped Francium, Energy Alternatives, Age of the Universe, Gender Gap
Scientists Trap Rarest Element - Francium
APS E-print Server Running
Technological Advances May Revolutionize Medical Imaging
Two New APS Topical Groups
Fighting the Gender Gap:Standardized Tests Are Poor Indicators of Ability in Physics
Over 100 New Isotopes Discovered with Novel Fission Method
Particle Beam Processing Industrial Applications
APS Council Approves Three Statements on Energy Issues
Science Policy, Black Holes and BEC Featured at Plenary Session
New Cluster Data Puts Universe at 13 Billion Years
Stockpile Stewardship, Non-Proliferation Policies Pose Challenges to Nuclear Weapons Labs
Energy Alternatives Vital To Meet Future Demands
Multimedia Review
General Election Preview: Members To Choose New Leadership for 1997
In Brief
Now Appearing in RMP....
Letters
APS Views
The Back Page
Cartoon
Historical Factoid