Americans with U.S. PhDs going to Canada

[jeeves0923]

Is it common at all for an American with a PhD from a top 20 program to seek to and get placed at a Canadian university?

[ICECOLDECON]

Almost all of the faculty at Toronto have PhDs from American top 30 universities. I think the Canadian PhD programs are good at pumping students into some second-tier Canadian universities (e.g. Ottawa, Dalhousie). Preference in hiring is supposed to be given to Canadian applicants, but even at places like Calgary (where I spent a semester as an undergrad), you see a good proportion of American PhDs. I would also say that it is certainly easier going from America to a good Canadian school, than from Canada to a good American school.

[jeeves0923]

Even if you are an American citizen?

[Canuckonomist]

Top Canadian programs are quite good at getting their faculty into top Canadian programs, if you look at UBC, UWO and Queen's Faculty. The key is to remember we consider that there are roughly 15 good programs in the US, while there are only about 4 in Canada, so you need to take that into account when you are judging the placement of top canadian Ph.Ds at Canadian programs. Queen's has a ratio of 1 canadian Ph.D prof for every 2.6 American Ph.D profs, which I think is pretty respectable, given then ratio of good American programs to good Canadian programs.

Sorry, Jeeves, I have no real answer to that. I hear that Canadian schools like to "hire their own" in terms of Canadian citizens, (so I've heard from some faculty) but I can't prove that.

[bscout]

Originally Posted by Canuckonomist

The key is to remember we consider that there are roughly 15 good programs in the US, while there are only about 4 in Canada,

If we say that US only has (even roughly) 15 good programs, we cannot say that Canada has 4. At most it has only one or two since there is no way that we can compare the other Canadian programs with some of the top-20 or even top-30 US programs.

[Canuckonomist]

Originally Posted by bscout

If we say that US only has (even roughly) 15 good programs, we cannot say that Canada has 4. At most it has only one or two since there is no way that we can compare the other Canadian programs with some of the top-20 or even top-30 US programs.

I disagree quite a bit when talking about Canadian placement. I'd go so far as to say the US has about 20 good programs that rival Canada's top 4 for Canadian placement. From the graduate coordinator at Queen's, I've been advised against seeking a Ph.D at a school below the top 20 in the U.S, over choosing a Canadian institution.

I disagree specifically to your comment that we can't compare UBC, Queen's, U of T and UWO to American programs in the top 20. Placement is a great example, and as I've mentioned before with the statistic from Queen's, Ph.Ds from Queen's place particularly well here, we have a UBC Ph.D, a UWO (I think two maybe,) a U of T, and two McMaster Ph.Ds.

The lowest ranked U.S programs that place here are Pittsburgh, JHU, Minnesota and Boston U (of which the last two I wouldn't necessarily consider as low as econphd.net ranks them.... I find that ranking out of date.) So I think Canadian Ph.Ds DO rival top 20 departments in the U.S in terms of Canadian placement, and likely do better. Especially if you stretch that to top 25 U.S departments.

Lastly, I shouldn't say good, because there are plenty of good U.S programs, but I am comparing top 20 U.S to top 4 Canadian.

Cheers,

Canuck.

[Nanashi]

from a look through the econ faculty page In UBC, most of the actual faculty, which mostly do research and graduate teaching, are largely not from canada. However, they are all from renowned programs. The ones that are from canada, seem to be all from Queens, or UBC. The rest almost all have american PH.d's, and are mostly from outside of canada, from top institutions (Princeton, Harvard, 3 or 4 from Northwestern, Maryland, UCSD, MIT, Georgetown, madison).

Theirs another class of positions, which are instructors, who do less research and mostly undergraduate teaching. (Most of my profs T_T), and most of them are clearly canadian.

[jeeves0923]

I've looked through the faculty pages at UBC, UofT, UWO, and Queens. It seems that most of the 'foreign' professors are from places other than the U.S. Do you think that is more a self selection issue (American citizens would rather not leave) or a university preference (Canadian schools would rather have Canadians, British, and people from countries other than the U.S.)?

[Canuckonomist]

Originally Posted by jeeves0923

I've looked through the faculty pages at UBC, UofT, UWO, and Queens. It seems that most of the 'foreign' professors are from places other than the U.S. Do you think that is more a self selection issue (American citizens would rather not leave) or a university preference (Canadian schools would rather have Canadians, British, and people from countries other than the U.S.)?

Other than the previous "hiring one's own" comment earlier, I am not sure. I don't think there would be a preference, Canadians aside, from choosing someone from outside canada that is not American over an American.

Remember that many of the Queen's professors with foreign degrees have had other placements before Queen's, and I'm of the belief (and I've had this confirmed from some faculty) that after your first placement, maybe second, your Ph.d granting institution means less, and you're looking at someone's recent work. So it's hard to compare data on that of professors that are quite seasoned and getting ready to retire, and Queen's has a number of those (Hartwick, Usher, Milne, Green -he's kinda already retired, but you'd never know it from how much time he spends at the instution -, etc,)

[bscout]

Originally Posted by Canuckonomist

I disagree quite a bit when talking about Canadian placement.

I did not know that you were taking into account only Canadian placement. What called my attention is that there is no way you can compare Minnesota (to say something) with any Canadian program.

You should also take into account that, as someone mentioned, there is a lot of selection bias.

I think that, generally, people from US programs will not consider Canadian Universities since even some LACs offer better packages. Besides, I also think that people, once graduated, tend to stay on US or return to their home country (if they are international students) and not to move to a third place. Hence, Canadian are not competing with a lot of US' graduates. But, of course, this hypothesis should be tested.