Israel Matzav

20% of Israeli Math PhD's move abroad

JPost reports that 20% of Israeli PhD's in Mathematics are leaving the country and moving abroad.

Twenty percent of those who received PhDs in math from Israeli higher learning institutions from 1985 to 2005 had been living abroad for at least three years as of 2011, according to a survey released this week by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The number of graduates from Israeli academia had steadily increased from 21,000 in 1985 to 106,000 in 2005. The study focused on the 360,000 Israelis who obtained academic degrees during that 20-year period.

As of 2011, 4.9 percent of them had been living outside of Israel for three or more years. The percentage of those who left the country is even higher among those with PhDs – 10.5%. The percentage of those with medical degrees who left the country as of last year stands at 7.2%.

In 2011, 6.7% of those with medical degrees or PhDs in math and engineering returned to Israel.

Among those with bachelor’s degrees, 4.8% of them sought employment abroad as did 4.2% of those with master’s degrees.

The data also showed that the percentage of PhDs in scientific fields and in engineering who lived abroad for over three years is close to four times higher than that of PhDs in social sciences, and most of those graduated from universities not colleges.

What the survey doesn't ask is why. There's one small hint.

Out of the seven Israeli universities, the Weizmann Institute of Science has the most graduates – 17.8% – going abroad, and Bar-Ilan University the least – 2.9%.

It's not surprising that fewer Bar Ilan students leave because Bar Ilan includes as part of its mission, 

The University aims to forge closer links between Torah and universal studies, "to blend tradition with modern technologies and scholarship, and teach the compelling ethics of Jewish heritage to all... to synthesize the ancient and modern, the sacred and the material, the spiritual and the scientific."

As you might imagine, that means that Bar Ilan has a reputation for having a higher percentage of religious Jewish students than is the case at other Israeli universities. And it shows.

Israel suffers from one of the highest tax burdens in the world. The Left would have us believe that's because of the 'settlers' and the ultra-Orthodox. But it's neither of the above. There are still a myriad of inefficiencies built into the Israeli economy from the early days of the state that raise prices, stifle competition, and give a sense of entitlement that leads to higher taxes just to keep the country running. Here are a few examples:

Dairy products, fruit and vegetables are still solely marketed by a conglomerate owned by the Kibbutzim.

Everyone gets a monthly child subsidy that's equal regardless of your income. It depends only on the number of children you have.

Most imports are structured in a manner that lines someone's pockets and costs everyone else money. For example, there is one exclusive importer for each automobile make. That's because getting an import license here is almost impossible.

This is the only country in the world where the banks make the majority of their profits from fees paid by ordinary consumers (you and me).

While the level of medical care to which the average citizen has access is astoundingly good, a doctor can make tens of times more money by moving abroad. That tradeoff would actually be fair if you assume that the doctor has to make less money for many years because he gets a heavily subsidized education (university tuition here runs about $2500 per year, and if you maintain over a 90 average, you generally don't pay after the first year). But this isn't a closed market, and nothing stops a doctor from getting an education here and then taking it abroad to practice more profitably.

The cost of living here is simply higher, and if your decision to stay or leave is purely a function of economics, you are likely to leave if you have the opportunity to move abroad (The article specifically mentions American immigrants - who keep their US citizenship - moving back to the US. Given what I have just told you, is anyone really surprised?).

What's the answer? The answer is a stronger education in Jewish values. 'Israeliness' is not going to motivate anyone to stay here.

Labels: Israeli economy, Israeliness, Judaism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:52 AM