Mississippi is losing too many residents, and too few people are doing anything about it.
So Mississippi Today, in partnership with Rethink Mississippi (an initiative sponsored by the nonprofit Working Together Mississippi) and the University of Mississippi Center for Population Studies, has launched the state’s first-ever scientific study dedicated to understanding Mississippi’s brain drain crisis — and what ideas could help reverse it.
Whether you’ve stayed, left, or considered leaving, we want to hear from you. If you’ve moved to Mississippi from elsewhere, or even if you’ve never lived in Mississippi, your input is valuable. Brain drain in Mississippi affects all of us, and we believe hearing from people of any and all backgrounds and perspectives can only help us better grapple with the problems and develop some solutions.
The short survey asks everyone about the factors that influenced their decision of where to live, whether that’s in Mississippi or not. It follows with tailored discussion questions based on where you’re from and where you live now. We ask you to reflect on what has pulled you away or what has kept you rooted here, as well as the potential changes that could improve the chances that you live in the state in the future. We purposefully left plenty of room for you to share your own thoughts with us.
Over the next few weeks and months, we will spend dedicated time and energy with the results of the survey. We’ll dispatch journalists at Mississippi Today to dive deeply into issues that matter most to you, and we’ll work closely with our expert partners to dissect and share findings — all with potential solutions to the crisis at top of mind.
All of the stories, analyses and essays related to this work will be published on our new page at Mississippi Today called Brain Drain. Click here to access and bookmark the page.
We’ve also published a comprehensive list of answers to frequently asked questions about the problem, the data and potential solutions.
READ MORE: FAQ: The ‘Brain Drain’ crisis in Mississippi
Importantly, we take very seriously the protection of your personal information. We want you to share your thoughts as honestly as possible. Your responses will remain completely anonymous to us and our partners unless you choose to include your name and contact information. But please tell us how to reach you if you are open to talking with us for future articles or research, or if you want to stay in touch through our email list. Even if you opt into sharing your personal information with us, we will protect it closely and never publish it without your permission.
In addition to powering in-depth reporting and analysis, we believe this study and its surrounding work will start community conversations. You can expect us to host public events centered around this project, and we want everyone — from everyday Mississippians to policymakers and public officials — to benefit from this data and understanding.
Take the survey and share your story here. And if you found it helpful or interesting, please share it with your networks! We want to hear from as many past, present, and (hopefully) future Mississippians as we can.
Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. I can be reached at adam@mississippitoday.org.
