WHAT IS BRAIN DRAIN?

The loss of skilled, intellectual and technical labor through their movement to more favorable geographic, economic, or professional environments. It can be simply defined as the mass emigration of technically skilled people from one country to another country. Brain-drain is also termed as “human capital flight” because it resembles the case of capital flight. Brain drain can occur either when individuals who study abroad and complete their education do not return to their home country, or when individuals educated in their home country emigrate for higher wages or better opportunities.

HISTORY OF BRAIN DRAIN

The term originated about 1960. In 1960, many British scientists and intellectuals immigrated to the United States for a better working climate. Its meaning has broadened into: the departure of educated or professional people from one country.

India was having an almost 98% tax rate in the decade of 1970, meaning a very much higher tax rate against the earnings, and no jobs were generating at that time, leaving entrepreneurs either to leave the country to setup their business abroad or become stale here. With jobs not matching the growing population, our graduates had no choice but to look for greener pastures where countries like US & UK were welcoming them with open arms. We had entrepreneurs and professionals but the policies did not allow them to work here. Our talented brains & entrepreneurs did not leave our country, leading to brain drain. Our policies pushed them out. It drained them out.

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF BRAIN DRAIN

There are numerous flows of skilled and trained persons from developing to developed countries. In these flows engineers, medical personnel and scientists usually tend to predominate. They are characterized by large flows from a comparatively small number of developed countries and by small flows from a larger number of developing countries. The migratory trends are stimulated both by the character of national educational systems by lack and inadequate planning for the training of students from developing countries.

MAJOR PROBLEMS FACED BY INDIA DUE TO BRAIN DRAIN:-

A shortage of skilled and competent people in India. A tremendous increase in wages of high-skill labors in India.

Political problem: When the best of professional manpower leave their home country and settle in a more developed one, it is a political phenomenon, but it only rarely occurs that the motives are exclusively political. It involves peculiar contradiction; it simultaneously indicates the lack of production and over production of professional manpower on the drained country. In this sense, brain drain is a symptomatic phenomenon, but at the same time it is expressive of a fundamental difficulty. To some extent it has an objective basis, as the attraction of a more developed country compared with those of the less developed ones has always existed in the course of history The net effect of this is that the development of science and technology has been accelerated in the developed countries and has been slowed down in the drained countries

Problems of governance: In government itself, low wages at senior levels are a serious problem. An economic advisor at the Finance Ministry earns less than Rs.20, 000 a month. It is possible to have individuals take up these roles if they are independently wealthy; altruistic; power-hungry; corrupt or incompetent. This is not a happy state of affairs etc.

An economic problem: It is characteristic of brain drain that the more underdeveloped a country is economically, the more it loses by brain drain while only developed countries profit from the process. It occurs through a complicated interplay of direct and indirect economic `push' and `pull' factors. It is stimulated by the lack of an educational system as well as the absence of a manpower policy in most of the under developed countries. As against this, there are higher living standards and better research and working opportunities of the more developed country, which provides thousands of possibilities for developing human potential.

As psycho-social problem: The main flow of brain drain as a change of domicile starts from the under developed countries towards the developed one, due to social, cultural and psychological factors due to references for living in certain countries, A large number move from few LDCs to certain DCs and; at the same time a less number of HQM move from a large number of LDCs. The major geographical direction of brain drain is from the South to the North, It is a fact that human capital as strategic resource is flowing out of economies where it can make the greatest contribution to human welfare, into economies already well developed and having large number of trained, capable, scientific and administrative personnel.

Higher education scenario in India

In the recent years, the cut-offs for admissions became close to 100% in the best Indian universities. While the institutes are in the race of getting the best students in the country, the ambitious youth who fail to meet the “irrational” demands had to compromise on their dream of occupying a seat in any of the prestigious Indian universities. This leads them to explore the scope of higher education abroad. Most of the students who try their luck in higher studies abroad get into good universities as they have an edge over the students from other countries in terms of skills and knowledge. The academically well qualified people prefer going abroad for higher research because they don’t get the best chances, resources and facilities for research in India.

A recent study conducted by Indian Institute of Management- Bangalore (IIM-B) shows that the students going for higher studies abroad has increased by 256% in the last 10 years. When 53,000 Indian students went abroad for higher studies in 2000, the figure shot up to 1.9 lakh in 2010.

Country-wise data on the number of students going abroad for higher studies

Country Students going abroad (per year)

China 421,000

India 153,300

Republic of Korea 105,300

Germany 77,500

Japan 54,500

Source: UNESCO’s Report- Global Education Digest, 2009 

A report by Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) pointed out that when a large number of students flocking to foreign universities, it costs India a whooping Rs. 95,000 crores per year.

Better opportunities abroad: Most of the students prefer staying back in the host country due to better work opportunities and heavy pay packages. After getting good global exposure and getting introduced to the high quality life and facilities, the students become reluctant to go back to the home country. It’s very obvious that the skilled Indians prefer US Green Cards and EU Blue Cards over the not-so-attractive pay checks and average living conditions of a developing country like India.

Classification of Brain Migration

Classification of Brain Migration

Brain over flow Brain export Brain exchange Brain drain

PUSH FACTORS OF BRAIN DRAIN:-

Under employment. Economic under development. Low wage/salary. Political instability Over production and under utilization Lack of research and other facilities. Lack of scientific tradition and culture Lack of freedom and Discrimination in appointment and promotion. Poor working facilities and Unsuitable institution. Desire for a better urban life. Desire for higher qualification and recognition. Better career expectation. Lack of satisfactory working conditions.

PULL FACTORS OF BRAIN DRAIN:-

Better economic prospects. Higher salary and income. Better level of living and way of life. Better research facilities. Modern educational system and better opportunity for higher qualifications. Prestige of foreign training. Intellectual freedom. Better working condition and better employment opportunities and chance to growth. Relative political stability. Presence of a rich, scientific and cultural tradition. Attraction of urban centre. Availability of experience/supporting staff. Technological gap. Allocation of substantial funds for research.

GLOBALIZATION AND THE BRAIN DRAIN

The brain drain has been on our consciousness for over 30 years. India has steadily exported some of its brightest youngsters. From the early 1960s onwards, a large fraction of the graduating class at the IITs has left India. In earlier decades, the big decisions that individuals made were at age 20 and at 25, a young decided whether he wanted to study abroad At age 25, he decided whether he wanted to return to India. Once a person spent a few years in the Indian labor market, with or without a foreign education, it was highly likely that he would stay in it for life. Globalization has reduced the differences between countries, so that the skills of a good doctor or a good futures trader or a good economist are highly portable across the globe.

THE ADVANTAGES OF BRAIN DRAIN

The country of origin exporting their skilled and highly educated workforce benefit from a brain gain both in terms of the increase in the labor power they possess, but also in the fact “skilled migrants leaving the country generate increased demand for higher level education amongst the population”

The sending back of remittances increase economic development in the country and standard of living. First, the economy of the origin country may not be able to take advantage of the skilled laborers, so it becomes more beneficial for the workers to migrate and send back remittances. Second, when the migrant workers return home, they may bring with them new skills and knowledge.

Remittances are a positive effect of the brain drain because they increase living standards in society as Faini notes “skilled migrants typically earn more therefore remit more thus fostering growth”. The remittance economy is a significant part of the brain drain as well an integral source of income for developed economies.

NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF BRAIN DRAIN

The brain drain benefits individuals more so than society; however, “implementing policies to reduce their movement” "is in effect to act against the process of development”.

Social Marginalization: Another consequence of the brain drain is the existence of social marginalization which occurs due to several reasons. The migrants themselves, who have struggled to adapt to their new surroundings and way of life, may subsequently perceive themselves as living 'parallel lives.' Although the more pressing issue skilled migrants face in contemporary society is “double marginalization” which refers to when migrants are kept from integrating into their new surroundings either by society or by existing governments, and upon their return home are shunned by the community they originally migrated from due to their earlier departure.

Impact on the health systems of developing countries: Despite the existence of significant global efforts trying to improve health and healthcare systems in the developing world, the money invested is insufficient as health workers from the developing countries leave their home countries and immigrate to the developed world assuming low-status positions in rich countries. As a result of many local health workers abandoning their countries, countries in the developing world lack sufficient health care workers, which harm the local health system: health systems in the developing world are receiving financial aid to deal with significant diseases and health issues such as child mortality, AIDS, and Malaria. However the money is ineffective as there is no sufficient manpower in the form of medical and health professionals to do the work required, which further damages the health system rather than strengthening it.

THE UTILITY OF BRAIN DRAIN

The assumption is "skilled workers migrating are likely to increase remittances to the home country", however this is not always the case. Highly skilled workers are often able to bring immediate family with them so they are not obliged to send money back making the brain drain highly problematic for society especially when countries invest up to $50,000 on highly skilled individuals.

In assessing the usefulness of the brain drain it is important to understand that for some of the world’s developing countries "the gains from migration accrue neither from migrant remittances nor do they return home with amplified skills acquired abroad". They are instead from the increase in promotion of education of highly skilled labor in developing countries as well as investment in infrastructure.

BRAIN GAIN

An opposite situation to Brain Drain, in which many trained and talented individuals seek entrance into a country, is called a brain gain. While simultaneously many qualified immigrants were coming to home country from a number of different nations. This phenomenon is common in developed countries where people come from many nations for higher studies & didn't return back.

CONVERTING BRAIN DRAIN INTO WISDOM GAIN

The opening up of international borders for goods and labor, a key strategy in the current liberal global economy, is accompanied by a linguistic shift from ‘human capital flight’ and ‘brain drain’ to ‘professional mobility’ or ‘brain circulation’. Solutions should therefore be based on this wider perspective, interrelating health workforce imbalances between, but also within developing and developed countries.

Wage differentials between source and destination country are so large that small increases in healthcare wages in source countries are unlikely to affect significantly. There is a need to review the social, political, and economic reasons behind the exodus, and to provide security and opportunities for further development locally. Lowering of standards should not be accepted, instead local conditions should be reviewed and rectified

CONTRIBUTIONS BY SHARING KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

In this globalized world the physical location of a person may or may not have any relation to the ability to make an impact on human health. Easy communication, quick travel, and greater collaborations between developed and developing countries are increasingly more common and we need to develop ways in which foreign professionals can contribute to their countries of origin.

Remittances from expatriates living abroad constitute a significant proportion of foreign revenue for many developing countries. Formalizing the transfer of remittances might permit the generation of revenues that could be invested nationally in the social and economic development of the developing

home country. The availability of both high-quality education and opportunities in research are the keys to retaining and attracting regional talent.

CONCLUSION

Scientists who have emigrated for several reasons are recoverable assets who can play a part in developing opportunities at home. However, recovery requires the opening of diverse and creative conduits. Foreign professionals could be used to develop innovative graduate education opportunities at home and technology to be transferred to areas of national priorities for research and development. Ultimately, involving individuals who are living abroad in creating opportunities at home favors both the retention and repatriation of national talent. Building an enlightened leadership and an enabling national scientific community, with the help of expatriate citizens, for the coherent development of scientific and technological capacity in developing countries will be mutually beneficial.