Anyone undertaking graduate study abroad for political reasons?

[Catria]

By that, it can mean the following two things:

 

1) Doing graduate study abroad in order to protest deleterious policies in your home country (be it science, higher education, cultural policy or any other related thing)

2) Attempting to use a foreign university as a political asylum

 

There are definitely students who are at schools outside their home countries for other reasons (e.g. lack of schools in their home countries doing X in field Y, primary sources inaccessible in their home countries or just because their dream jobs consider international mobility as an asset) that aren't politically explicit.

[spunky]

i was not personally in that situation when i started graduate school but i do know two people who fall under your 2nd category. both are using graduate school as a way out some pretty difficult living conditions in their home countries. 

 

although from experience as an immigrant i know you're not supposed to do that, at least in Canada. Immigration Canada doesn't really like it when you claim 'A' but you're really aiming for 'B'. i think we touched on this issue somewhere back a few months ago but the consensus i read was also that the U.S. doesn't really like it when you use a student visa as a stepping stone to obtain permanent residency. 

Edited May 21, 2015 by spunky

[Catria]

Even though I overtly denounce the Canadian federal civilian science policy, how I proceed to do it is unorthodox at best.

 

Although when I get asked about why I am attending Minnesota, I will say why I am disgruntled about Canadian civilian science policy every single time. I then proceed to claim that my attendance of Minnesota is a consequence of deleterious civilian scientific policy.

[shinigamiasuka]

The political situation in my "home country" (Bangladesh) is terrible. It's where I completed my undergrad, spent 4.5 years there. My reason for studying abroad are plenty, including getting away from a place that I neither got used to nor liked, and that there's nothing available in my area of interest--neither jobs nor research. Saudi Arabia has, sort of. Applied and got rejected though. I'm not sure if I'll want to stay in the US for too long, might go settle elsewhere, Idk yet. But yeah, I'm not going there to settle, but actually to study and work in my area of interest. Malaysia has growing research in the field, so I might consider going there afterwards.

[TakeruK]

I'm just curious what you mean by protesting via graduate study abroad, Catria. Definitely understand why choosing to go to the US is a good move when you don't like how the Canadian government treats/funds scientists, but I don't see the political protest side of this. I mean, in order for it to be a useful action, the group that you are protesting against needs to know what you're doing and be impacted by what you're doing. And in honesty, I don't think having us Canadians go to the US for grad school has any impact on the Canadian government. And if you do plan to return to Canada, then this is basically a good thing for Canada -- they get a trained PhD but didn't have to pay for it.

 

Some ways you could protest might be to: 1) win a NSERC fellowship and take it to the US--the Canadian government will notice if a large number of their prestigious graduate fellowship winners are going abroad or 2) actively write to your MP or other government representatives about your thoughts (however, by physically being out of their riding might make them less interested in you, although you can still vote for/against them!). I'm sure there is more, but other than (1) above, I don't think simply attending grad school outside of Canada will mean very much--I encourage you to take action and stay involved in the Canadian scientific organizations too. 

 

For example, I am still a member of CASCA (Canadian Astronomical Society) while in the US because I believe they are the strongest voice for Canadian astronomers in the Canadian government. When CASCA leadership asks for feedback from its members, I participate. Perhaps you can do the same and voice your own concerns and your profession's society can help you let our government know that their policies are causing scientists to leave Canada. (That said, I think they might care more about Canadian PhD holders leaving rather than grad students leaving, but everyone matters!)

[Catria]

I'm just curious what you mean by protesting via graduate study abroad, Catria. Definitely understand why choosing to go to the US is a good move when you don't like how the Canadian government treats/funds scientists, but I don't see the political protest side of this. I mean, in order for it to be a useful action, the group that you are protesting against needs to know what you're doing and be impacted by what you're doing. And in honesty, I don't think having us Canadians go to the US for grad school has any impact on the Canadian government. And if you do plan to return to Canada, then this is basically a good thing for Canada -- they get a trained PhD but didn't have to pay for it.

 

Some ways you could protest might be to: 1) win a NSERC fellowship and take it to the US--the Canadian government will notice if a large number of their prestigious graduate fellowship winners are going abroad or 2) actively write to your MP or other government representatives about your thoughts (however, by physically being out of their riding might make them less interested in you, although you can still vote for/against them!). I'm sure there is more, but other than (1) above, I don't think simply attending grad school outside of Canada will mean very much--I encourage you to take action and stay involved in the Canadian scientific organizations too. 

 

For example, I am still a member of CASCA (Canadian Astronomical Society) while in the US because I believe they are the strongest voice for Canadian astronomers in the Canadian government. When CASCA leadership asks for feedback from its members, I participate. Perhaps you can do the same and voice your own concerns and your profession's society can help you let our government know that their policies are causing scientists to leave Canada. (That said, I think they might care more about Canadian PhD holders leaving rather than grad students leaving, but everyone matters!)

 

I'm different from some other people I know about that would take a PGS D abroad; attendance of a foreign school (Minnesota) is just one component of how my personal context fits in how I take action. Other Canadians I know that do graduate study abroad don't seem to want to take action as much. 

 

The first actions I took involved my supervisor because my supervisor is a vice president at CAP (Canadian Association of Physicists) and I proceeded to write to Mrs. Poduska, another CAP VP, also. Then came these videos, now publicly available on YouTube, and now writing to various federal officials.

 

As far as my own riding is concerned, I would say that it could become a battleground between opponents of the Conservatives (NDP vs. Bloc to be precise)...

[fuzzylogician]

Studying and taking political asylum are two different things in terms of immigration status. Becoming an asylum seeker is not easy and places all kinds of restrictions on you, while being a student is in a sense easier but you're not guaranteed to be able to stay long-term. It's just two very different things. I have to say that I am confused by the notion that you might take up studies in another country as a form of political protest. We're talking about a personal decision of one individual here. It'd only be protest if you took active steps to, well, protest.

 

I know plenty of people who came to North America to study because conditions there are better than in their home countries on many grounds, including access to resources and funding on the one hand, but also personal safety and freedom on the other. Frankly, I find comparing your (perhaps extreme) dissatisfaction with Canadian education policies to escaping dangerous living conditions and poor education in other countries somewhere between naive and offensive. If this is how you've been framing your decision to go to the US for your graduate studies, I hope you reconsider. As someone who comes from a country with actual serious problems and who knows others in far worse situations, I would have a hard time listening to the points you are trying to make -- which I am sure you care about deeply -- once you made that comparison.

[Catria]

I must admit I have been a little naïve in comparing the two. I did not intend to compare the two, they were just examples of how would one study abroad for "political reasons" even if these two reasons are otherwise disconnected.

 

I did take active steps in protesting, just that I found that, while doing so, I found that I would do so differently depending on where I end up in graduate school.