Brain drain

INTRODUCTION:

Brain drain can be defined as the movement of elites or the circulation of human capital. This expression emerged in the 1960s to describe the emigration of highly qualified Europeans to the United States. Since then, the phenomenon has spread to most regions worldwide. For example, the former USSR lost 450,000 researchers, representing 50% of its workforce at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Similar trends occur in many countries, particularly in developing nations with high educational standards. Countries in the Global South have thus become talent providers for developed countries, turning brain drain into a global phenomenon.

Given this reality, should we not question the causes of this trend, along with potential solutions and measures taken to combat it? Certainly, brain drain is an undeniable fact, driven by multiple factors, primarily political, economic, and sociocultural causes. To counter this phenomenon, it is essential to rethink development and scientific research policies, improve economic conditions, and broaden research and academic opportunities while ensuring access to employment in decent social conditions.

This analysis will sequentially examine the reality of brain drain, its causes, and the measures taken to address this issue.

I. CURRENT REALITY:

Developed Countries:

In 2000, the British government and the Wolfson Foundation, a nonprofit research foundation, launched a research program that had limited resonance outside scientific circles. This £20 million project aimed to encourage high-level British scientists to return to the UK and to attract young researchers from around the world. The same year, with much greater media coverage, the U.S. Congress announced an increase in the annual quota of temporary work visas for highly skilled professionals from 115,000 to 195,000 until 2003.

These examples illustrate, on the one hand, the growing demand for skilled talent and the increasingly intense competition among OECD Organisation for Economic Co operation and Development countries and, on the other hand, the need for policies that attract skilled workers and limit their exodus. The British initiative dispels the myth that brain drain affects only developing or transitional economies. In fact, it was to describe the mass exodus of scientists and engineers from the UK to the United States and Canada in the 1950s and early 1960s that the British Royal Society coined the term  brain drain.

While we lack comparable international data on elite migration, the 1990s saw an increase in immigration to the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the UK from Asia. This phenomenon can be explained by both the high demand for specialists in information technology and other science and technology fields in OECD countries and selective immigration policies favoring skilled workers. However, not all skilled workers emigrate solely in search of better educational, economic, or intellectual conditions; some are forced to leave their country due to war or political, ethnic, or religious persecution.

Migration of skilled workers among OECD countries has also increased, but it mostly involves temporary stays for doctoral students, researchers, and employees transferred abroad within their companies, resembling more of a brain circulation than a brain drain. The globalization of companies has contributed to the increase in temporary migrations: in the mid-1990s, intra company transfers represented 5% to 10% of the total skilled-worker migrations from Canada to the United States.

In Absolute Terms:

The United States is the primary destination for skilled foreign workers; 40% of foreign-born residents have a tertiary level of education. Since the early 1990s, around 900,000 skilled workers, primarily IT specialists from India, China, Russia, and several OECD countries including Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany, have immigrated to the United States through the temporary visa program. Likewise, 32% of OECD students studying abroad reside in the United States. Higher education thus serves as a major avenue for capturing foreign talent: in 1999, nearly 25% of those holding temporary visas had studied at U.S. universities.

However, the U.S. is not the only country that attracts skilled workers. Canada also draws talent, and despite a modest loss of skilled emigrants to the U.S., it is a net importer of human capital. Migratory flows toward Germany and France are traditionally smaller, but these countries also attempt to attract foreign students, researchers, and IT professionals. In 2000, Germany implemented a Green Card program to recruit 20,000 IT specialists, and by the end of the following year, it had recruited half, primarily from Eastern Europe. Moreover, several dynamic Asian economies, such as Singapore, are striving to fill their IT workforce gaps through immigration from Malaysia or even China. Although the current economic crisis has reduced demand for IT technicians and other specialized workers, foreign skills remain in demand.

The costs and benefits of these labor flows are central to ongoing debates. On a global scale, the international mobility of skilled workers can be beneficial as it promotes the exchange of knowledge and better meets the demand for skills. Skilled workers are increasingly recognized for contributing to the economic growth and advancement of their host countries, particularly in research, innovation, and entrepreneurial skills, as demonstrated by foreign-born Nobel Prize winners in the U.S. or the founders of high-tech companies such as Intel, eBay, and other successful startups.

While OECD countries are less exposed to brain drain than developing nations, the risk still exists. For instance, Canada loses skilled workers to the U.S. while also importing skilled human capital from other countries. The relative advantages of these exchanges remain to be determined. Does the immigration of hundreds of IT specialists offset the departure of a single leading genetic researcher from a public lab? This is difficult to assess. However, if skilled worker migration between advanced countries is indeed temporary, these countries could benefit twice over. They can reap the rewards of the experience gained abroad by their researchers and enjoy the constant arrival of skilled workers.

2. Developing Countries:

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates that around 300,000 skilled workers of African origin live and work in Europe and North America. According to some estimates, a third of research and development professionals from the developing world reside in OECD countries. The media frequently reports cases of Indian entrepreneurs in the United States who establish subsidiaries or companies in India, though few actually return to India, and each year, 30 times more leave.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimate that between 1960 and 1975, 27,000 Africans left the continent for industrialized countries. From 1975 to 1984, this figure reached 40,000 and increased to 60,000 from 1985 to 1990. Since 1990, it is estimated that at least 20,000 people leave the continent annually.

Table: Number of African Immigrants (1960-2004)

Source: International Organization for Migration

According to a 1993 UNDP report, over 21,000 Nigerian doctors practice in the United States, while Nigeria’s healthcare system suffers from a severe shortage of professionals. The same report notes that 60% of Ghanaian doctors trained locally in the 1980s have left the country. African countries spend approximately $4 billion each year employing 100,000 foreign experts, while an equal number of African experts work in Europe.

This phenomenon is driven by political, economic, and sociocultural factors.

II- CAUSES OF BRAIN DRAIN:

1. Political Causes: 

   • Lack of democracy.
   • Armed conflicts and civil wars.
   • Selective immigration policies favoring skilled workers.
   • Pressure from attractive destinations offering temporary visas.
   • Clientelism and political favoritism.

2. The phenomenon of brain drain is inherently linked to politics, as the policies implemented by certain leaders or governments do little to encourage researchers to pursue knowledge challenges within their own countries. The sense of insecurity, rejection, and dissatisfaction within regimes that resist modernity and progress creates a stifling environment. Conditions in such countries, along with imposed restrictions, can include the following:

3. Economic Causes: Economic crises and their factors push many researchers to leave their countries. The globalization of the economy and market-driven policies increase demand in Northern or attractive countries e.g., the United States, Canada, which in turn seeks highly qualified individuals from the Global South. These countries, often burdened by structural adjustment policies and heavy debt, allocate minimal budgets for scientific and technical research.

4. Socio-Cultural Causes: Various socio-cultural factors significantly impact developing countries, particularly in Africa, and continue to contribute to the brain drain. Underdevelopment has become ingrained in African societies as a fact of life. The collective mindset of students is fueled by the "Western Eldorado" myth, often reinforced by academics from Northern countries working in African universities. The challenging working conditions, inadequate salaries, and subpar research environments hinder educational quality and, consequently, enrollment rates. Additionally, ethnic and religious conflicts, human rights violations, and the lack of basic social services further exacerbate the situation.
   These affected countries must implement reforms and measures to improve living and working conditions, establish networks to encourage communication between expatriates and local communities, and ultimately encourage expatriates to return and curb the brain drain.

III- SOLUTIONS AND MEASURES TO COMBAT BRAIN DRAIN:

1. The European Case: The European Commission recently proposed a series of measures aimed at preventing top European researchers from abandoning their careers in Europe in favor of more lucrative opportunities in the United States or elsewhere. Based on a thorough analysis of career prospects within the EU, the report Researchers in the European Research Area: A Profession with Multiple Careers identifies key factors in developing scientific careers, including training, recruitment methods, employment conditions, evaluation mechanisms, and career progression. The report suggests concrete actions to foster better dialogue and information exchange with researchers and aims to create a competitive labor market in research across Europe. These recommended actions include:

   • A European Charter for Researchers to improve career management.
   • A Code of Conduct for recruiting researchers across Europe.
   • Development of a framework for recording and recognizing research outcomes throughout a researcher's career, including transparency of qualifications and skills acquired at various stages.
   • Establishing a platform for social dialogue among researchers.
   • Designing tools to better address research training content.
   • Establishing mechanisms to ensure that PhD candidates have access to sufficient funding and minimum social security benefits.

   By implementing these actions, the European Commission aims to provide political impetus and work with EU member states and research stakeholders, while respecting the principle of subsidiarity, to move forward toward achieving common objectives.