To Leave or to Stay? Migration Attitudes of the Participants of Global Education Grant Program

Occupation: Director; Head of Department of Demographic and Migration Policy
Affiliation:
Institute for Demographic Research of FCTAS RAS
MGIMO
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow

Tamara Rostovskaya

Occupation: Deputy Director; Prof.
Affiliation:
Institute for Demographic Research of FCTAS RAS
Moscow State University of Technology "STANKIN"
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow

Yulia E. Pletneva

Occupation: Junior Research Associate
Affiliation: Institute for Demographic Research of FCTAS RAS
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow

Galina N. Ochirova

Occupation: Junior Research Associate
Affiliation: Institute for Demographic Research of FCTAS RAS
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow

Journal name

Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya

Edition

Issue 12

Pages

65-74

Abstract

Recognizing the importance of human capital, many developed and rapidly developing countries invest into the growth of international student mobility of their nationals through various state grants and scholarships. This study explores if these measures combined with obligations to return to home country can prevent the "brain drain" and enhance transition to the "brain circulation" model. Using the case of the Russian government grant program "Global Education" we examine peculiarities of adaptation of highly qualified specialists to the countries of education, employment features of program graduates and their potential emigration attitudes. This study used the mixed method approach: survey in the form of an anonymous questionnaire and the results of a qualitative study in the form of semi-structured in-depth interviews. Results indicated that a lot of participants felt disappointment after returning home. The main difficulty was inconsistency with received education and job vacancies in the labour market. We found that a significant part of the program participants expressed desire to emigrate from Russia after completion of their obligations. The study acknowledged that the emigration of highly qualified specialists can be reduced by institutional changes in the Russian economy, including an increase in labour remuneration, removal of barriers to the implementation of initiatives, and reduction of taxes on starting-up and running business in high-tech industries.

Keywords

emigration, emigration attitudes, emigration factors, academic mobility, return migration, highly qualified specialists, Global Education program

Acknowledgment

The article has been prepared with the support of Russian Foundation for Basic Research (the project № 18-29-15043).

Received

21.12.2020

Publication date

24.12.2020

Number of characters

28066

Cite

GOST	Ryazantsev S., Rostovskaya T., Pletneva Y., Ochirova G. To Leave or to Stay? Migration Attitudes of the Participants of "Global Education" Grant Program // Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya – 2020. – Issue 12 C. 65-74 [Electronic resource]. URL: http://ras.jes.su/socis/s013216250009483-4-1-en (circulation date: 23.03.2025). DOI: 10.31857/S013216250009483-4
MLA	Ryazantsev, Sergey, Rostovskaya, Tamara, Pletneva, Yulia E., Ochirova, Galina N. "To Leave or to Stay? Migration Attitudes of the Participants of "Global Education" Grant Program." Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya 12 (2020):65-74. DOI: 10.31857/S013216250009483-4
APA	Ryazantsev S., Rostovskaya T., Pletneva Y., Ochirova G. (2020). To Leave or to Stay? Migration Attitudes of the Participants of "Global Education" Grant Program. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya (12), pp.65-74 DOI: 10.31857/S013216250009483-4

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