Where will Brock College of Mathematics and Science graduates end up once they earn their degrees? Postdoctoral researcher Nathan Olmstead and Brock University’s Niagara Community Observatory (NCO) want to find out.
Olmsted heads a project called “Brain Drain,” which involves sending out a questionnaire to recent graduates of Brock University in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.
“We know that Niagara’s economy is evolving and that the jobs of today are not necessarily the jobs of yesterday,” Olmstead says. “The issue of developing talent, but also retaining it, for these jobs is at the forefront of the Niagara region and across Niagara.”
The survey, which will be emailed in October to those who graduated between 2004 and 2022, seeks to find out whether graduates chose to live and work in Niagara or decided to seek opportunities elsewhere, along with their reasons for staying or leaving. Niagara. The survey ends in November.
Olmsted says he plans to produce a report to share with officials in various municipalities within Niagara as well as at Brock College and Niagara, among other places.
“Talent development and retention has been on the region’s radar for a while,” Olmstead says. “This is a great opportunity to delve deeper into this issue and understand the data behind it and where Niagara stands today.”
The survey is part of a larger project funded by the Wilson Foundation, which formed a multi-year partnership with NCO last year.
The project, facilitated by the NCO, engages Brock scholars and students, along with members of the broader community, in “mapping key trends in Niagara’s social and economic development in a changing world,” says NCO director and Brock political science professor Charles Conteh.
“The ultimate goal is to highlight how the region’s changing human talents, coupled with its natural and physical assets and demographic shifts, are enabling it to exploit emerging global opportunities and address challenges in protecting and enhancing the social and economic well-being of residents.” Conteh says.
For more information about the survey, contact Olmstead at [email protected]
