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Well-educated migrants worldwide are not only a source of revenue but potential key actors

From brain drain

Every year, tens of thousands of highlyspecialized professionals and aca-demics leave the developing worldfor what they believe to be a better

quality of life in countries of the North.

The majority – doctors, engineers, lecturers,researchers and senior managers as well asstudents – are tempted by more attractivecareer opportunities, salaries and livingconditions. A university degree is also thesafest passport out of an unstable politicalenvironment.

“A global phenomenon is emerging,” saysGeorge Haddad, Director of the Higher Education Division in UNESCO. “It’s driven bynew forms of transport, communication,business and the search for economic, edu-cational and scientific opportunity.”

Staggering numbersThe extent of this “flight of human capital”is staggering, according to the UN Eco-nomic Commission for Africa and the Inter-national Organization for Migration. Anestimated 27,000 skilled Africans left thecontinent for industrialized countriesbetween 1960 and 1975. During the period1975 to 1984, the figure rose to 40,000.Since 1990, at least 20,000 qualified peoplehave left Africa every year. As Alex Nunn ofLeeds Metropolitan University succinctlystates, that makes 20,000 fewer people inAfrica who can deliver public services andarticulate calls for greater democracy anddevelopment.

But brain drain is not restricted to theAfrican continent, nor to developing coun-tries in general. Skilled migration betweenwestern countries is also on the rise, charac-terized by temporary flows of undergradu-ate and postgraduate students, researchers,managers and specialists in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Keydestinations include the European Union,North America, Japan, Canada and Australia.

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Cover illustration of “La fuite des compétences en Afrique francophone”, UNESCO, Paris, 2004. © B. Ambry / UNESCO

Since 1990, at least 20,000 qualified people have left Africa every year.

nomic and social progress has also broughtrecognition that the circulation of skills andmanpower can be a positive force in accel-erating development”.

Seddoh points to “the immense benefitsthat can be gained from internationalmigration for individuals in both sendingand receiving countries, in terms of accu-mulated skills and experience as well asknowledge and technology transfer throughnetworks and contacts”.

This reflection is echoed by Mark Regets ofthe Institute for the Study of Labour inBonn, Germany, who believes that “many ofthe global gains from migration – the cre-ation and transfer of knowledge, the emer-

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Experts agree that something needs to bedone about the scarcity of key workers indeveloping countries. The question is what?

Many argue that those governments experi-encing a significant outflow of professionalworkers should introduce incentive meas-ures such as tax and welfare credits to limitthe extent of outward migration from Southto North. It has also been suggested thatreceiving countries should desist fromrecruiting in the most vulnerable sectors oflabour markets in the South.

On the other hand, limiting migration fromparticular regions or countries could domore harm than good, comments AshokParthasarathi, a former science advisor tothe Indian Prime Minister. “A ‘pro-develop-ment’ response to this situation must notinclude restrictions on migration [that] vio-late the fundamental values of humanrights and individual freedom,” he says.

A positive forceA paradigm shift is needed in the way braindrain is perceived and analysed, argue anincreasing number of development stake-holders, including scholars. The idea is tomove away from the negative concept ofbrain drain and start talking about “braincirculation”.

“Until the early 1990s, the term ‘brain drain’evoked the idea of a one-way, permanentmigration of skilled people from the devel-oping world to the North”, comments Fran-cisco Seddoh, former Director of the Divi-sion of Higher Education and Adviser to theDirector-General of UNESCO. “The term hadnegative connotations because it impliedthat vital human resources were beingdrained from those countries that needthem most.”

These days, he adds, “migration is no longera one-time only experience. Nor is it uni-directional. The influence of mobility on eco-

in their countries’ development. Perhaps it is time to stop seeing them as a loss of investment.

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The United States is still, however, themain pole of attraction, according to theOECD. Since the early 1990s, some 900,000highly skilled professionals – mainly ICTworkers from India, China and the RussianFederation – have migrated to the UnitedStates under its temporary H1B visa pro-gramme. This was created specially to allowthe recruitment of foreign professionals fora period up to six years. Higher education isan important source of highly skilledmigrants for recruiting firms; a quarter oftemporary visa holders were previouslyenrolled at U.S. universities.

Adding up the costs The costs of this economic migration interms of human development and publicwelfare are incalculable. Governments usescarce resources to subsidize the educationand specialized training of workers whothen take the potential economic and socialspin-offs with them when they depart. Inthe meantime, the same governmentsstruggle to fill posts in public welfare serv-ices and cope with skills shortages in keyeconomic sectors.

In Latin America, for example, enrolmentin medical schools is high, but countries inthe region still have a chronic shortage ofdoctors. In certain African countries,national medical associations have warnedthat the skills shortage threatens thevery existence of national health servicesas medical care and health facilitiesbecome available only to the wealthy.Countries such as Ghana and Nigeria standand watch as their doctors and nursesleave in large numbers to take up better-paying positions in Europe and NorthAmerica. In other spheres, developingcountries are also critically lacking inengineers who can design and overseeinfrastructure projects, as well asresearchers and scientists who can pio-neer advances in all areas of public welfareincluding health and education.

Did you know ?As of 2000, over 80 per cent ofgraduates from Haiti, Jamaica andGuyana were living abroad.

Close to 30 per cent of the labour force from Guyana, Grenada and Dominica is currently in the United States.

Africa lost 60,000 professionals (doctors, university lecturers, engineers)between 1985 and 1990. For every100 professionals sent overseas fortraining between 1982 and 1997,35 failed to return.

US$4 billion is spent annually on the salaries of approximately 100,000 Western expatriates in sub-Saharan Africa.

There are over eight million overseasFilipino workers worldwide, representing10 per cent of the total Philippinepopulation and over 22 percent of the country’s labour force.

Sources: United Nations, World Bank, PhilippineOverseas Employment Administration.

The inability to attract or keep qualifiedacademic staff is having a profoundly nega-tive impact on higher education systems inthe developing world. In some countries, notenough researchers and PhD holders can betempted to stay within academia just to fillteaching posts, never mind carrying out keyscientific research.

So what would it take for talented students,researchers and lecturers to stay? Much ofthe literature seems to indicate the needfor challenging academic and career oppor-tunities.

This is no easy feat for under-resourcedhigher education systems. But the mostentrepreneurial universities are looking athow their changing funding structures andservice mandate can be turned to theiradvantage. One solution is to directresearch to areas providing the highestprobability of academic excellence for staff,as well as full-time, waged employment forgraduates.

Brain circulationAt Makerere University in Uganda, for exam-ple, the Agriculture Department hasadapted its undergraduate courses to thelocal world of work. The university’s exten-sion services have, in turn, stimulateddomestic investment in university infra-structure and research and developmentcapacities.

In India, the success of university/industrypartnerships, twinning arrangements withinstitutes of technology in the UnitedStates, and technology/knowledge transferled by the Indian Diaspora in Silicon Valley,have achieved almost folklore status in thebuilding of India’s ICT industries in the Ban-galore region.

Universities are also drawing on the notionof “brain circulation” to create new learningarrangements that will keep or lure backtheir most prized lecturers and students.Existing undergraduate courses might becomplemented with short periods of spe-cialized and intensive study abroad. Mean-while, exchange programmes encourageacademic and research staff to return tem-porarily to their country of origin to give alecture series or provide technical advice toa development project.

John Sarpong, founder of Africast.com, animportant internet portal for Africans living overseas.

The Digital Diaspora Network is anotherexample. Launched in July 2002, this UN ini-tiative aims to generate a network ofexperts and entrepreneurs in computertechnology from the African diaspora inEurope and North America.

A headache for universitiesThe issue of brain drain is a major headachefor the world’s universities as they adjust toincreasingly mobile and competitive labourmarkets.

The premium placed on scientific expertiseand technological knowledge, at least inindustrialized countries, means that univer-sities must compete with industry and pri-vate research and development institutionsto attract qualified staff and scientists.

In addition, funding cuts in academic infra-structures, science and technology subjectsor teaching/learning materials and equip-ment drive a growing number of graduatesand researchers out of academia to take uplucrative posts in the private sector. Thistrend accelerates as university salaries fallbehind those of senior managers in privatecompanies.

gence of a skilled and educated workforceand the fostering of commercial ties – areshared to some extent by countries on bothsides of the equation”.

Partners in local development Many expatriates already contribute mas-sively to their national economies throughsending remittances to their families. Forexample, Ghanaians living abroad con-tribute about US$400 million annually tothe national economy, constituting Ghana’sfourth highest source of foreign exchange.

But many more would like to use theirexpertise, skills and capital to become realpartners in local and national development.This is true even if concerns about livingconditions and (in the worst cases) politicalinstability and human rights abuses meanthat they don’t necessarily want to returnto their homeland.

For this group, the possibility of “virtualparticipation” in nation-building is nowmade easier through interactive technologythat facilitates knowledge sharing as well asthe conversion of specialized expertise intoeconomic, social and cultural capital.

Diaspora networks offer “a major opportu-nity to transform the historical brain drain… into [the] new African ‘brain trust’,” notes

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From brain drain to brain gain

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African Students:the most mobile in the worldThird-level students from sub-Saharan Africa are the most mobile in the world,with one out of every 16 studying abroad, according to a report from the UNESCOInstitute for Statistics (UIS).

“What this report shows is that the real dynamic in tertiary education is comingfrom African, Arab and Chinese students. They are the driving force behind theinternationalization of higher education,” says Hendrik van der Pol, UIS Director.

Between 1999 and 2004, the number of mobile students worldwide surged by 41 percent from 1.75 to 2.5 million. This does not mean that more students aretravelling, rather it reflects the rapid expansion of higher education itself, withtertiary enrolments also increasing by about 40 percent during the same period.

Six countries host 67 percent of the world’s mobile students: with 23 per centstudying in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom (12 per cent), Germany(11 per cent), France (10 per cent), Australia (7 per cent) and Japan (5 per cent).

Contact: a.otchet@uis.unesco.org

One successful example of a programmetapping into the positive benefits of “braincirculation” is the Transfer of Knowledgethrough Expatriate Nationals (TOKTEN) proj-ect at the University of Mali. A joint endeav-our of the national government, UNESCOand the United Nations Development Pro-gramme (UNDP), the project was initiated in1996 to encourage overseas-based Malianacademics, experts, professors andresearchers to undertake short-termteaching contracts.

Similarly, the UNESCO initiative AcademicsAcross Borders (AAB) is planning to facilitatea short-term volunteer service for retiredacademics and professors from developingcountries who are willing to assist teachersin selected universities in their countries of origin.

The UNESCO/Hewlett Packard project inSouth-East Europe is another innovativeprogramme aimed at stimulating the scien-

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Education TODAY No. 18 7

Public/Private Solutions in South-East EuropeIn the 1990s, conflict in South-East Europe resulted in great loss of life, but also of intellectual capacity.Many countries experienced emigration of up to 70 percent of their skilled professionals, while two out of threeteaching and research jobs were lost on some universitycampuses, devastating scientific research and highereducation capacities.

Young scientists in South-East Europe have now beengiven the possibility to link up with fellow-nationalsabroad through a powerful IT platform.

Launched in 2003, the joint UNESCO/Hewlett Packardinitiative Piloting Solutions for Alleviating Brain Drain in South East Europe hopes to turn brain drain into brain gain.

A total of seven universities in Albania, Bosnia andHerzegovina, Serbia, and the Federal Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia received state-of-the-art equipment fromHewlett Packard, enabling them to share computer powerand data storage capacity.

The project is using a cutting-edge informationtechnology called grid computing. “It has the potential

to convince local talented individuals that they no longerneed to look further afield in order to gain access to thelatest technology,” says John Saw, Marketing Directorand Philanthropy Manager of Hewlett PackardInternational Sales Europe.

Participating universities have succeeded in creatingteams of faculties, scientists and decision-makers acrossthe region, all working closely together. In the Universityof Belgrade, for example, several young engineersremained in the country to develop experiments usingthe grid computing technology. Project meetings havealso acted as a stimulus for overcoming boundaries atinter-regional level.

“Not only has the project strengthened scientific andeducational capacities at the national level, it has re-established dialogue among young researchers fromthe region after years of broken communication,” saysStamenka Uvalic-Trumbico, the UNESCO coordinator

A booklet on the project will shortly be available.

Contact: s.uvalic-trumbic@unesco.org

tific or entrepreneurial environment neces-sary for academic excellence. It offers aplatform for students thinking about emi-grating to stay in contact with leadingauthorities in their fields, principallythrough access to overseas libraries and co-operation with their fellow-nationalsabroad. “Such initiatives are a significantfactor in slowing down the flow of those whootherwise would leave for good”, saysUNESCO coordinator of the programme,Stamenka Uvalic-Trumbic.

Is brain drain inevitable? The UN EconomicCommission for Africa and the InternationalOrganization for Migration warn that, in thefuture, it may become even tougher to keepskilled professionals in developing countries.With falling birth rates and aging popula-tions, demand for labour in Northern coun-tries is expected to grow. And in a globali-zing world which promotes the free move-ment of capital, it will be difficult to restrictthe free movement of skilled labour.

The challenge for policymakers is to findinnovative strategies to face these harshrealities. They can continue to use ICT tobuild capacity, especially in the universities.Most of all, governments should liberate thepotential of their diaspora communities andenable them to play a meaningful role intheir countries’ development.