Recipients of S&E bachelor's and master's degrees were highly mobile between the receipt of the eligible degree and employment during the survey reference week, and this tendency to change states was also exhibited during earlier transition periods. During the survey reference week, about one in three of the 1997–2000 recipients of S&E bachelor's and master's degrees (35 and 36 percent, respectively) were employed in a state other than the one in which they had received their degree. While the propensity to migrate was strikingly similar through most of the transition periods from birth to postgraduate employment, S&E bachelor's recipients were most mobile between the receipt of their degree and postgraduate employment. S&E master's degree recipients were most mobile between the receipt of their bachelor's and master's degrees.
Interstate mobility during the transition to postgraduate employment was associated with several of the demographic, educational, and occupational characteristics of S&E bachelor's and master's recipients. After controlling for the simultaneous influences of these variables, the findings indicate that interstate migration during the transition to postgraduate employment was most pronounced for S&E bachelor's recipients who were white, were part-time employed and full-time students, had high undergraduate GPAs, came from highly educated families, received engineering degrees, and/or were employed in the government sector. Among S&E master's recipients, the propensity to migrate during the transition to postgraduate employment was most pronounced for those who were male, were not married, were full-time employed and not students, and/or were employed in the government sector.
Overall, the findings help to address some of the brain drain (and brain gain) concerns across states regarding this highly skilled segment of the U.S. workforce. These data provide insight into the extent to which S&E bachelor's and master's degree recipients change states between the receipt of the eligible degree and employment during the survey reference week, and at earlier points during their education. The findings suggest that the loss (and gain) of highly educated workers from state to state is substantial.
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