Background of the Study
The high unemployment rate around the world has become a major concern for students that are about to enter the labor market. The labor market is becoming more arduous to enter and even a degree from a well-known local university does not guarantee employment in the area of the students’ expertise anymore. Employers focus more on quality and international education when hiring employees (Ermólieva, 2011). Moreover, the students from the developing countries are concerned, as well, about their education as a direct consequence of increasing globalization, which, in turn, greatly augments the already fierce competition amongst their peers. Therefore, a plethora of the aforementioned pupils decide to study abroad to pursue a high-quality education that they believe will ensure a superb pecuniary quittance post-graduation (Hayes & Lin, 2011). However a high percentage of those considered as “international students” remain in the host country due to job opportunities and benefits they received in the host country compare to what their own countries have to offer them. According to CELADE (Centro Latinoamericano de Demografia, Latin-American Center of Demography), the number of Latin-American professionals outside of their home countries was approximately 300,000 in 1990, with an increase of almost 1 million in 2000 (Ermólieva, 2011).
In most of the so-called developing countries, brilliant minds can be found, but, because of a scarce amount of resources and funds, cannot be employed at their maximum potential. Therefore, many companies and organizations, national and international, have encouraged students to pursue studies abroad. However, the tendency shows that once student finish and obtain their degree they do not return to the home country which leads to a brain drain phenomenon (Miyagiwa, 1991).
Many countries, especially developing countries, such as Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Guatemala, Jamaica and Iran are currently facing and dealing the problem of migration of highly skilled personnel. In some cases, more than two-thirds of their high-level educated population has left to a developed country (Irogbe, 2013 as cited in
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Chile and even Britain reported since many years ago a loss of four thousands professionals over a ten-year period (Portes, 1976).
In Mexico, for example, between the years of 2004-2007 it was reported an approximate 6.8 million of high-level educated citizens and the expatriates’ rate was 6.5%
with a result of 411,000 Mexicans outside of the country. In Argentina the estimation was an approximate of 165,600, in Brazil 184,000 and in Dominican Republic 99,000 citizens with a high-level education outside of the country (Ermólieva, 2011).
The brain drain can indeed be seen as a negative externality on the population left in the source country (Bhagwati & Hamada, 1974), due, for example, to imperfect substitution between skilled and unskilled labor (Luo & Ping, 2003). The negative impact of the brain drain has also been stressed in the literature; Haque and Kim (1995) underline the positive impact of migrations on human capital formation, but when turning to the issue of the brain drain, conclude that there is a detrimental growth effect. Globalization is primarily manifested in the possibility of educational mobility. The growth of international mobility of scientific personnel is an integral feature of the globalization of science, and in this context, the problem of "brain drain" in developing countries is particularly worrying.
Statement of the Problem
Many studies focus on the phenomenon of brain drain and how it affects the economy of both host and home country. This study attempted to understand the phenomenon of brain drain on an individual level. Specifically, this study attempted to understand the reasons that drive the students to make such an important decision as to remain in the host country or return to their home countries. Previous work focused on identifying the factors that influence students on this type of decision; however, this study adds value to previous work by analyzing results from students coming from developing countries.
Students will react to the way in which the society (classmates or friends and professors) welcome them and how this network actually guide them or provide them with tips or advices on how to enter the market in the host country. Moreover, family plays an important role in a student’s life, especially when it comes to an important decision as to
become an expatriate. In some cases families encourage the talent flow because it is beneficial for both the student and the family. In other cases, the strong family ties (more common among women) encourage the student to return to home country (Markus &
Kitayama, 1991).
The decision of staying in the host country, made after the students’ arrival, is no longer just an adventure or an opportunity to get to know a different culture, yet a personal investment and a family strategy to improve the quality of lifestyle either for the individual or the entire family (Cevallos, 2013).
Another important factor that may influence students is the perception on the labor market of the host country. Due to a bad economy in developing countries salary, career advancement and job opportunities are being affected and this does not motivate student to return to their home country. The perception of the job market plays an important role as a push factor away from home country as the oversaturation of the local job market leads to a fierce competition for better jobs. As a result, these students consider that being trained and working outside of their countries gives them an advantage over other students who does not possess local, regional and international experience like them (Akl et al., 2007).
One of the first host-country environments a foreign student interacts with is the University and if the university has programs that promote internships or job opportunities for foreign students they would be informed as to how to enter the labor market of the host country. The student may feel more optimistic about the chances and probabilities they have career wise, and be influenced to the decision to remain in the host country. The same effect can happen if they know the process of becoming a permanent resident or obtaining work permit while still in the campus.
Finally, this study attempts to replicate a previous study by Baruch, Budhwar and Khatri (2007) that researched the brain drain phenomenon and the factors that influenced the decision of the students of staying in the host country or returning to the home country.
However, this study adds value to the literature because it fills the gap of the previous one that did not emphasize on the students coming from developing countries. No similar studies have been found on this sample.
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Motivation for the Study
The study is significant because it attempts to obtain a more precise explanation to the brain drain phenomenon that developing countries are experiencing. As the sample of this study comes from the developing countries and also this sample was not previously studied in depth, it is important to obtain findings that help understand the personal and social reasons why students decide not to return home after graduating abroad. To point out the factors that influence the foreign students’ intention to stay in the host country should be of interest to the ministries of education and job employment departments of the developing countries to amend their policies if they want to keep their talents in the home countries.
On the other hand this study adds valuable information to the relevant government ministers or agencies in the host countries to improve labor and immigration policies when they have an interest of retaining those talented foreigners with a willingness to stay in that host country.
Research Questions
Factors that were studied in this research are social support, family ties, perceived support from the university and perceived labor market. These factors are linked to the intention of foreign students to remain in the host country, in an individual level of analysis.
The adjustment process when moving to a different culture is of high relevance for performance and effectiveness, and students who experience a smooth adjustment to the new country may be happy to stay in the environment where they felt welcomed by the society (Shay & Baack, 2004). This environment refers to the social support such as connections with personal friends, networking with classmates, assistance provided by professors and staff from the university (university support), relationship with family members and the perceived career and job opportunities in the labor market of the host country.
Therefore, this study aims to find out whether social support, family ties and perceived university support moderated by the perception of job market have an influence over foreign students’ intention to remain in the host country. The research questions this study attempts to answer are as follows:
• Does the external environment in the host country have an influence on foreign students’ intention to remain in the host country after graduating?
• What are the personal factors that influence foreign students’ decision to remain in the host country?
• What are the social factors that influence foreign students’ decision to remain in the host country?
• Does perceived job market have an effect on the influence of personal and social factors on foreign students’ decision to remain in the host country?
Definition of Terms
Brain drain: “The phenomenon in which people of a high level of skills, qualifications, and competence, leave their countries and emigrate” (Baruch et al., 2007). For this study brain drain focuses on students from developing countries that pursue studies in developed countries and decide to remain in the host country after graduating.
Social support: For the purpose of this study the perception of social support entails a collection of support, aid and advices that a student receive from her/his classmates and professors in a personal level that helps them to get more information about the labor market and how to enter it. This study considers two dimensions of social support: support from other students and support from professors. The support received from classmates or professors promotes a positive influence for a student to decide to remain in the host country.
(Sarason & Duck, 2001).
Perception of university support: The support a foreign student receives from the university about internship or career opportunities, help to find employment (Tharenou, 2014) and orientation regarding visa processes, work permits and other matters related to the process of relocation after the graduation. Therefore, two dimensions were analyzed for this variable: Internship inquiries and Immigration inquiries
Family ties: For this study family ties was the strong ties, attachments and commitment that students have with their family back home in which case, these ties will work as a push away factor that influences the student to leave the host country. Instead, if
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the student has family in the host country, this factor will work as a pull to factor and the intention for the student to stay in the host country will increase (Baruch et al., 2007).
Perceived labor market: In this study, perceived labor market is defined as the perception of opportunities that a student has access to base on his own abilities, labor conditions and other external factors that represent job opportunities and opportunities of career advancement or lack of it (Vos, Clippeleer, & Dewilde, 2009). Therefore, the two dimensions analyzed for this variable are career advancement and job opportunities.
Intention to stay in the host country: Refers to the conclusion that a student intends to arrive at whether to permanently relocate to the host country by entering the host country labor market or to return home after graduating.
Developing countries: For this research this refers to the countries included in the official list of developing countries by the International Monetary Funds (IMF). List is attached in the Apendix B.