CS Prof Decries America's 'Internal Brain Drain'

walterbyrd writes "Dr. Norman Matloff of the University of California-Davis computer science department argues that US citizens are avoiding 'Science Technology Engineering Math' (STEM) careers, because US citizens see those fields as being ruined by massive offshoring and inshoring. 'Despite widely publicized claims that foreign tech workers and scientists represent exceptional ability and are thus vital to American innovation, Matloff called that argument merely "a good sound byte for lobbyists" supporting industry proposals for higher visa caps. The data (PDF), on the other hand, indicate that those admitted are no more able, productive, or innovative than America's homegrown talent, he said.'"

Comments

Re:Does it matter what reasoning lobbyists have?

[CrazyJim1]

Same goes for marketers. No matter how awful your product is, they can find "some study, somewhere" that has something vaguely positive to say. For instance, I'm not sure if you caught it recently, but Lucky Charms was being touted as a health food.

Re:I disagree

[CFTM]

Uh yeah, so things have changed since the economic downturn and there is a growing body of evidence that suggests a Law degree is about as valuable as a BS in the Arts. Unless you can graduate in the top 10% of your class and are at a prestigious university, you will not be hired as a lawyer these days.

Law firms folded like stacks of cards during the economic downturn but these institutions of higher learning have continued to sell the idea that getting a JD will make you big bucks right out of school. There are even reports of major law programs manipulating their employment numbers by hiring former students to be over-educated paper clerk.

So after three years of law school you're saddled with 150k debt and no means of paying it back....sound investment!

If you want a return on investment, go get an MBA :P

Blog source so take it for what it's worth,

DUH

[iamhassi]

This professor hit the nail on the head, what American would want to work in technology after this video from US attorneys explaining how NOT to hire Americans for IT jobs? Here's the full video. And how much jail time did these attorneys get for sending millions of jobs overseas? None.

This is why I left CS. Videos like this and the job market full of fake job ads with fake software you MUST know how to use in order to be hired because companies have to run XX# of job ads in order to get H-1B visas to hire foreign workers. Couldn't find an IT American that knows Windows 10.3 and Microsoft Office Turbo Edition? Then here's your H1B visa's, hire some foreign programmers.

I went back to school and now I'm in the medical field, hopefully they don't start giving visas out to doctors.... aw crap

Re:DUH

[Anonymous Coward]

Aaaaaand once again, this video re-surfaces. It never fails!

And how much jail time did these attorneys get for sending millions of jobs overseas?

None. Because they sent a grand total of 0 (zero) jobs overseas.

This video is about the green card process. Not the H1-B process. If you don't know the difference between those two, you should just shut up. Honestly. Your post is just "waaargbglbghg".

Of all the H1s a company has hired, it may want to keep some. Because they are good engineers. Because they've grown in the company, are familiar with the product, the process. Because they've shown themselves invaluable. They were even rewarded for being exceptional with raises and bonuses and career advancement.

Now fire them.

What's that? You don't want to? You'd rather not replace them with some totally new guy? I understand. Well, The Process says they'll need Green Cards if you want to keep them. And The Process says you'll just have to prove to me this guy is truly, absolutely irreplaceable. How do you that? Why, by placing fake ads in the newspapers, off course! Go ahead, that's The Process that the immigration office set in place!

Is it stupid? Yes. Is that video in any way shape or form related to your "jobs overseas" rant. No. Stop linking to it.

Re:I disagree

[vlm]

That's a bit of hyperbole. In Austin, TX, with a healthy tech community, a dev right out of college makes around $60k a year, depending on the industry. A teacher right out of college makes around $30k, and only gets to $60k after a decade or so.

In "a decade or so" the dev is unemployable due to ageism thus $0 and the teacher is making $60k....

First decade the dev is ahead, second decade they're even, more than 3 decades and the teacher makes more lifetime income.

Moral of the story, if you plan to retire in 5 years be a dev, if you plan to retire at age 70, be a teacher...

Re:I disagree

[spun]

In America, we make new pies (i.e. increase our GDP) so that the wealthiest .001 percent can have more pie, NOT so that you, Mr. Peasant, can have any pie. You can eat cowflops, or whatever it is you peasants eat. Pie is for the rich.

  http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph

This shows just how little of the "new pies" the working man has gotten over the last thirty years. In fact, not only has the bottom twenty percent not gotten ANY of the new pie, they have had some of their original pie stolen as well.

Your argument that wealth is not static and traded only apples if the new wealth is distributed equitably. If all of the newly created wealth goes to the top .001 percent, then does it even matter to the rest of us that new wealth was created? No, because, even though we created all of that wealth, we get none of it. The rich do not create wealth, they steal it.