The great escape: boltholes for academics fleeing Brexit and Trump

From Australia to Singapore, David Matthews and John Elmes weigh the pros and cons of likely destinations

Published on
March 2, 2017
Last updated
July 26, 2017
David Matthews John Elmes
White cliffs of Dover
Source: Alamy/iStock montage
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Donald Trump
Brexit
Internationalisation
Higher education policy
Research

POSTSCRIPT:

Print headline: I’m an academic...get me out of here!

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Reader's comments (8)

#1 Submitted by karan28598 on March 2, 2017 - 7:39pm
And although fewer US academics took part, those who did *express a similar willingness to quit the US in the wake of Mr Trump’s election.
#2 Submitted by JacksonPaul on March 2, 2017 - 9:58pm
So, basically, lots of moaning and groaning, some hand-wringing at the narrow-minded masses, but - basically - no-one is particularly looking to move jobs.
#3 Submitted by ... on March 3, 2017 - 11:45am
Have you bothered to look at the data? More than half of non-UK staff and about one-third of UK academics are thinking about it. That is because of a) fall of Sterling (just, for example, fall of almost half v Singapore Dollar in the last ten years) and b) rising hostility to people who don't look or don't sound British, caused by the utterly stupid Brexit vote. There's a reason that the House of Lord's is stroppy about Brexit: the members are more intelligent than the mass of the British public and, unlike MPs, don't need to worry about gettibg re-elected.
#4 Submitted by ... on March 3, 2017 - 11:46am
Lords.
#5 Submitted by A-S00024014 on March 3, 2017 - 1:16am
The academic world and its inhabitants are hostage inside a flux, time, a major route to any exit .
#6 Submitted by A-S00024014 on March 3, 2017 - 1:40am
The academic world and its inhabitants are hostage inside a flux, thanks to the shifting sands from populist quakes, time, a major route , if , to any exit prospects
#7 Submitted by ... on March 3, 2017 - 1:50pm
Given how tough each of these markets are to get jobs, the influx just leads to more competition - so a lot of academics might want to flee the country but I suspect they are SOL when it comes to jobs.
#8 Submitted by tehpeng on March 4, 2017 - 3:02am
Singaporean universities function as extensions of the Ministry of Education, and all academic hiring, tenure, and promotion decisions require approval from the government. There is no semblance of academic freedom or institutional autonomy. International faculty in Singapore are disposable. While official data are not available (a common occurrence in Singapore), the proportion of cases granted tenure is about 30-35%. The universities are always hiring because of this constant turnover. The rosy picture painted above isn't quite accurate.

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