ONCE THEYVE LEFT, THEYRE LOST:

THREE QUARTERS OF EUROPEAN PHD HOLDERS

PREFER TO STAY IN THE US AFTER THEIR PHD
The majority of the European Science & Technology (S&T) graduates who decide to
work abroad go to the US. About 4% out of the total pool of European human
resources in S&T (or, roughly estimated, 400 000 out of 11 million) are living/working
in the US only. Nearly 75% of European PhD recipients prefer to stay in the US after
their PhD. Moreover, lost human capital has increased substantially during the last
decade: from 49% in 1990 to 73% in 1999.
The US is not only attracting larger numbers of European researchers, it is also
proving capable of retaining them, offering competitive career and employment
opportunities. This growing trend must be taken seriously, since it is generally
recognised that the period following a PhD graduation is likely to represent the most
productive years of a researchers career.

1. EUROPEAN HUMAN POTENTIAL GOES TO THE US

Foreign-born S&T employees in the US
One in ten non-US citizens employed in S&T in the United States are born in the EU. In
1999, some 85,700 employees working in S&T originated from the EU. Of this group, the
majority (28,400) were British, followed by Germans (25,200), and Italians (7,700). The US is
also a major pole of attraction for S&T graduates from the EFTA region and Candidate
Countries (4%). Taken together, Europe contributes 14% of the total American science and
technology workforce, the remaining 86% coming from Asian countries, principally China and
India.
Foreign-born higher educated people in the US
The number of people working as researchers abroad tells only part of the story of the
movement of human resources in S&T. It is useful to examine the total numbers of higher
educated people, which includes those with potential to work as researchers.
Table 1 shows that people from Germany and the UK are not the largest groups of foreignborn, with the highest S&T degrees or PhDs. With around 70,000 people, all holding S&T
degrees, both countries are far behind India and China, but at the same level as the Philippines
and Taiwan. Where numbers of S&T PhDs are concerned, Germany also, and not surprisingly,
comes below Canada.

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Foreign born residents in the US

with highest S&T degrees and PhDs in S&T
in 1999
Place of birth

Highest S&T
PhDs in S&T
degree

India
China
Germany
Philippines
United Kingdom
Taiwan
Canada
Korea
Vietnam
Iran
Former Soviet Union
Mexico
Japan
Poland
Argentina
Other foreign-born

164 600
135 300
69 800
67 000
65 400
64 800
59 400
46 700
44 300
39 900
38 000
31 700
30 700
:
:
431 800

30 100
37 900
7 200
3 400
13 100
10 900
8 400
4 500
:
4 800
4 600
:
2 800
3 200
2 700
58 400

Source
Third European Report on S&T Indicators, 2003
Notes
Data does not include individuals with only foreign degrees
who were not in the US in 1990. S&T means, beside the definition of
Science & Engineering used in this report, social and behavioural
sciences and agricultural sciences, according to the US National
Science Foundation (NSF) definition of S&T.

It is not possible to estimate the totals for the EU as a whole on the basis of these numbers,
but it can be concluded that the overall number of S&T- educated people in the US that come
from the EU, is no more than 400,000. This number is quite small when compared to the total
number of tertiary educated people in the EU (40 million), which includes an estimated 11
million in S&T disciplines. Considering the increased growing future demand for S&T human
resources in the EU, this US-based pool of 400,000 could potentially be an important
component of the required supply. Therefore, it is important to distinguish carefully between
those who are in the US temporarily and plan to return to their home countries, and those who
are planning to stay permanently.

2. THE LOST SONS OF EUROPE: PHD HOLDERS WHO DO NOT COME BACK
It is very important to know to what extent European PhD recipients who have graduated in the
US come back to Europe. Each year, the US National Science Foundation tracks information
on recipients of doctoral degrees to assess to what extent they plan to stay in the US after their
PhD, if they already have an employment offer, etc. This information was included in the report.
Analysing the answers of European PhD-holders, one can determine the following:
Between 1991 and 2000, a total of 15,158 US doctoral degrees were awarded to EUborn students. Among them were 4,000 German, 3,000 British, 1,400 French and just
under 800 Italian students. Another 4,500 students from Candidate Countries and 800
students from the EFTA countries complete the number of Europeans studying in the
US. They represented about 15% of the total number of PhDs awarded to non-US
citizens.

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 In 1999, nearly 75% of European PhD recipients preferred to stay in the US after their
PhD to establish their career. About two-thirds, (or 50% of the total number of
European PhD recipients), indicated that they had a firm offer of employment shortly
after they received their PhD. The remaining 25% had not yet received an offer at the
time of the NSF survey. Nevertheless, they planned to stay in the US.
These shares are higher for some European countries than for others, but they remain in
any case substantial. The highest shares are to be found in the case of UK PhD
recipients, for whom barriers to integrate in the American society are much lower, given
the existing cultural and linguistic ties between both societies.

Fig1: Share of EU born PhD recipents who plan to stay in the US afer
PhD, 1990-1999
80
(%)
75
70
65
60
55
50
45

United
Europe
Italy

40

Other
German

35
1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

Source Third European Report on S&T Indicators, 2003

Notes
Europe = EU 15, EFTA, Central and Eastern Europe.

Moreover, the proportion of European PhD holders preferring to stay in the US

increased substantially during the 1990s. At the beginning of the 1990s, less than 50%
of European PhD recipients declared themselves to be willing to stay in the US after their
PhD. Less than ten years later, this proportion of European PhD-holders preferring to
stay in the US has increased by 50%, reaching nearly 75% of the total.

These figures demonstrate that the US is attracting Europes best human capital by
providing high-level education. Obviously, they are also increasingly able to keep the best
brains after their PhD by giving them better employment and career opportunities
afterwards, either in the business sector or in the academic world. Even if one might expect
that the economic slowdown of the last two years would have a negative impact on this, it
remains hard to imagine a drastic reduction of USs relative attractiveness for European
brains.

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