With millions of people shifting from developing to developed nations in the past few decades in search of better opportunities, “Brain Drain” has become a serious issue. It is also known as “Human Capital Flight”. It is defined as a phenomenon when highly qualified and skilled individuals move to other countries for better jobs or educational opportunities.
As a result of this migration of the people, the developed countries gain human capital known as “Brain Gain”. Human capital plays a crucial role in the economic development of any country. This benefits the already developed nations while the developing nations end up losing their skilled workforce.
A huge number of Indians migrate to other nations every year. Research by the World Bank shows that more than 3% people worldwide reside in different countries rather than in the country of their birth.
Students especially from the field of science, technology and research move to countries like the UK, USA, Canada, Germany, Australia etc. Between 2003 and 2013, the US saw a drastic rise in the number of immigrant scientists and engineers from 21.6 million to 29 million according to the National Centre for Science and Engineering Statistics. (NCSES)
Causes of Brain Drain
Brain drain is caused due to a combination of the “pull factors'' and the “push factors”. Developed nations have more pull factors and the developing nations having more push factors leads to brain drain.
Push factors are the reason why people move out of their country. It includes underemployment or under-paid jobs. People move to other countries when they don’t get paid enough for their skillset. Another major factor is standard of living. People prefer to move out from countries which lack basic facilities like proper education, healthcare and pleasant working conditions.
Lack of research opportunities in the developing nations are another reason that makes people move to another country for higher studies. Disaster prone areas and lack of safety can also be a push factor to move to another country. The push factors not only cause brain drain but also indicate the inadequacy of proper facilities in the native country.
Pull factors are the factors that attract an immigrant to the destination. These are the exact opposites to the push factors. This includes better employment or educational opportunities, political rights, pleasant working conditions etc. These factors make the immigrants stay back and they often turn into permanent residents of the country.
It is extremely important to ensure properly funded research laboratories for higher studies, better salary for skilled occupations and a good working environment.
The solution to brain drain is to develop the overall standard of living in order to utilise the human capital of the country efficiently.
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