Google “2010 College Graduates” and the entire first page features links about the dismal job prospects facing this class. And yes, with December’s unemployment rate at 9.4%[1] and companies enjoying a strong buyers market, the more prescient questions may relate to the sky-rocketing price of higher education and the need for regulations in the student loan business – but I’ll leave that to the public policy wonks in Washington and the loan officers in New York. This is a mini-rant, one of those “what I’d do for your problems” problems that is usually diminished and disregarded, but one that I’d argue is incredibly important: the new brain drain.
Traditionally, brain drain, or human capital flight, has been used to refer to an emigration of mental talent. The phrase originated when scientists and technologists began leaving post-war Europe for North America, seeking better opportunities and increased fortunes. For much of the United States’ history, the brain drain has been her brain gain – the smartest minds from Europe and Asia come to the US, attend her universities, develop technology in her companies, and stay for good. However, in recent years, the US has begun to experience an unprecedented reverse brain drain, as highly skilled immigrants and students return to countries like China or India which are experiencing unparalleled growth rates[2]. Even more alarming than a Chinese student returning to their homeland, though, is the American student deciding to uproot their life and move to China themselves, deciding that America is no longer providing the best opportunities. So – why is this happening?
After graduating from one of those prestigious private universities that Americans love to attend (which have recently been categorized as overrated, unnecessary, and overly pretentious[3],[4]), my friends and I all entered the life of corporate America. And after spending the past 18 months here, I’ve found that none of us see any compelling reason to stay. Now, I’m in no position to say that a job in China is better than a job in America, and I certainly believe that any job is better than none, but, I’ve slowly come to realize that within companies all across the country, for 40+ hours a week, the brains of some of the smartest 23 year olds are being drained away. When I was sold on my job, the pitch included words like “mentally challenging,” “stimulating environment,” and “creative people.” Great words, but unfortunately, just words. Within a couple months, I realized that the jobs that my peers and I had had turned out to be exactly the same – lots of copy/paste work in Excel, a few colorful graphs, and then hours reading the New York Times and Wall Street Journal (there’s a reason half my footnotes will be from the Times). In fact, walk into any corporate office across America, and I guarantee you’ll be shocked at how well-informed the early twenties folk are. You’ll pause, surprised, and wonder where all the ignorant, naive youth of America are hiding[5].
Incentives are just too low. I don’t mean money. It’s still very easy (if you find that kind of work and lifestyle easy to maintain) to work 125 hours a week, eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at your desk, sleep about 4 hours, and lose contact with all your friends for the duration of the standard two year analyst program. Yes, it’s hard to feel bad for someone who’s barely legal and receives a hundred thousand dollar bonus. But financial incentives are not, surprisingly enough, everything. There are plenty of young people out there who want to be challenged, who took all AP courses because the normal ones weren’t rigorous enough, who double-majored in biology and economics because they were intellectually curious about both, who actually have library cards and use them. And every day, these people arrive at the office, log on to their computer, and feel their brain drain away. They wonder, “Where is the thinking, the creativity, the analytics?” and then open an online newspaper and read. Slowly but surely, their fancy degrees and expertise in a broad array of topics vanish. Those $200,000 educations start to look silly when a former economics major forgets what a Pigovian tax is. Unfortunately, the corporate bureaucracy that rules so many offices is rigid and entirely not conducive to change, and there’s little to nothing that a low level analyst can do to improve their mental situation.
But – I’m done accepting that. Yes, work may not provide the rigor and intellectual challenges that we expected or hoped for, but that doesn’t mean that all hope is lost. This is a call to action. If you are sitting at work and skimming any section of the news, write a little argument about the public education system, or about the state of Social Security, or the effect of Wiki-Leaks on America’s soft power strategy. Write a paragraph or a page using those fancy majors you obtained or write a funny story about what you did at work today, and send them this way. I’ll praise you (one of the many things said about our generation is that we need unending praise and support, and well, I’m willing to provide that in exchange for a mental discussion). This is a small step, but a necessary first one in the fight to stop the new brain drain.
[1] http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
[2] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/04/reverse-brain-drain-talen_n_163913.html
[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/weekinreview/19steinberg.html
[4] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09law.html
[5] http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2284665/todays_youth_are_ignorant_of_politics.html?cat=9
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