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Internationalization of doctoral education in geography: perspectives from the United States

GeoJournal volume 80, pages 231–238 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

In a globalized and high-technology world, geography, as a discipline studying space and place, faces a new era in the internationalization of geographical education. One key factor prompting changes in doctoral education is the increasing demand for highly-skilled international migrants. We will first briefly present some general trends in changing geographical education in the US, followed by more focused discussion on how trends in international migration of high-skilled knowledge workers can potentially affect doctoral education in American geography.

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Notes

  1. See http://www.aag.org/cgge.

  2. Tables 1 and 4 at https://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/R_IntlAdm09_II.pdf.

  3. The continuous trend of underrepresentation of domestic racial minority students in geography PhD education is an alarming and serious issue that needs to be further addressed and resolved, but it is beyond the scope of this short piece to address this matter.

  4. Reports on USAToday about American colleges expanding market in Vietnam. http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-09-23-vietnam-college-fair_N.htm.

  5. Reports on New York Times about American graduates seeking jobs in China. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/business/economy/11expats.html?_r=1.

  6. Data comes from China’s 2009 Annual Report on The Development of Chinese Overseas Educated Talents.

  7. Table 4 at https://www.cgsnet.org/ckfinder/userfiles/files/R_IntlAdm09_II.pdf.

  8. China’s 2007 Annual Reports on International Politics and Security published by Chinese Academy of Social Science indicated Chinese “brain-drain” situation of highly-skilled talents.

  9. China’s 2009 The Report on The Development of Chinese Overseas Educated Talents indicates that currently 80 % of Chinese university presidents, 67 % of university Ph.D. advisors, 81 % of members in Chinese Academy of Science, and 54 percent of members in Chinese Academy of Engineering have overseas educational background in developed countries, which causes public concern on how the Western ideology would impact on Chinese think tanks and future policy making.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the guest editors for compiling this theme issue and inviting us to participate in the endeavor. We are grateful for the comments and suggestions made by two anonymous reviewers on an earlier version, by Ken Foote and Jan Monk on both original and revised manuscripts; and to Mark Fiegener at the National Science Foundation for providing data on geography doctorates awarded in the US.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Asian Pacific American Studies, School of Social Transformation; School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 876403, Tempe, AZ, 85287-6403, USA

    Wei Li

  2. School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 875302, Tempe, AZ, 85287-5302, USA

    Wan Yu

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Li, W., Yu, W. Internationalization of doctoral education in geography: perspectives from the United States. GeoJournal 80, 231–238 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-014-9579-1

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Keywords

  • PhD
  • Internationalisation
  • Knowledge workers
  • Migration
  • United States