Steve Stancliff and Dr. Maclans A. Geo-JaJa, Educational Leadership and Foundations
Brain drain is a term used in development literature to refer to the idea that the academically and technologically trained human capital of developing countries are “drained” away to the greener pastures of highly developed nations and their labor markets. This research endeavor was designed to evaluate the attitudes and intentions of BYU students from lesser-developed countries towards taking their BYU education back to their countries of origin to promote development. In addition, I sought to evaluate BYU’s role in facilitating students’ ability to do so.
The main data of this research project was obtained through a short survey that was sent out via email to all BYU students with listed email addresses (as per BYU’s Department of Institutional Assessment and Analysis), who hailed from countries ranked in the bottom third of the Human Development Index1. Of the 100 students who were emailed, 36 students from the following countries responded: India (8), Ghana (6), Nepal (5), Mongolia (4), Honduras (2), Nigeria (2), Zimbabwe (2), Bangladesh (1), Chad (1), Democratic Republic of the Congo (1), Ethiopia (1), Haiti (1), Mali (1).Pakistan (1).
Summary of Data
Statement #1 – You will be returning to your home country immediately after receiving your diploma. The purpose of this statement was not necessarily to determine whether or not students knew exactly what their travel plans were but rather to roughly gauge how students perceived the notion of returning home following graduation. 11.1% (4 students) very strongly disagreed, 2.8% (1) strongly disagreed, 25% (9) disagreed, 27.8% (10) agreed, 22.2% (8) strongly agreed, and 5.5% (2) very strongly agreed.
Statement #2 – You are planning to return to your country to further your education. The purpose of this statement was to conclude whether or not students looked to their countries as a potential source for expanding their capabilities. 33.3 % (12) very strongly disagreed, 8.33% (3) strongly disagreed, 44.4 % (16) disagreed, 11.1% (4) agreed, 2.8% (1) strongly agreed, and no respondents very strongly agreed with this statement.
Statement #3 – Your major/degree will facilitate employment in your home country. The purpose of this statement was to assess whether or not the students felt that employment in their home country based on their BYU education/degree was even an option. Zero students very strongly disagreed, 2.8% (1) strongly disagreed, 8.33% (3) disagreed, 50% (18) agreed, 30.5 % (11) strongly agreed, and 8.33% (3) very strongly agreed.
Statement #4 – You chose or will choose your major based on the employment opportunities of the labor market in your home country. This question was designed to determine whether or not students actually planned on taking their education back to the labor markets of their home country. 11.1% (4) very strongly disagreed, 8.33% (3) strongly disagreed, 16.66% (6) disagreed, 33.3% (12) agreed, 22.2% (8) strongly agreed, 8.33% (3) very strongly agreed.
Statement #5 – You feel a sense of moral obligation to use your college education for the development of your home country. 5.5% (2) very strongly disagreed, 0% strongly disagreed, 8.33% (3) disagreed, 13.89% (5) agreed, 30.5% (11) strongly agreed, 41.66 % (15) very strongly agreed.
Statement #6 – Based on general interaction with university faculty, you feel or have felt encouraged to use your BYU education to promote development in your home country. 8.33% (3) very strongly disagreed, 2.8% (1) strongly disagreed, 8.33% (3) disagreed, 27.8% (10) agreed, 25% (9) strongly agreed, 27.8% (10) very strongly agreed.
Question #1 – Have you, or will you, return to your home country during your time at BYU to work in fields related to your major? 65.7% (23) answered “no,” 34.3% (12) answered “yes.”
Question #2 – At any time during your education at BYU have you been aware of any programs or incentives that would allow you to coordinate work, internship, or service opportunities in your home country with academic credit for your major? 83.3% (30) answered “no,” 16.67% (6) answered “yes.” Of the six students who answered yes, three of those indicated that they actually participated in such programs.
While this research endeavor admittedly lacks a large enough sample to establish credible statistical relationships, the data did reveal a few important trends. One of the most encouraging trends indicated by the data was that an overwhelming majority, around 86%, agreed (half of those very strongly agreed) that they had a moral obligation to use their BYU education for the development of their home country. In addition to this figure about 81% of the respondents agreed that they felt encouraged by their professors and other faculty to use their BYU education to promote development in their home country. These positive implications are contrasted by data showing that a comparable 83% of the respondents had never heard of any programs that would allow them to coordinate work, internship, or service opportunities in their country with academic credit for their major. Of the six students that had heard of such programs only three participated. This raises the concern that students from developing countries do not have critical opportunities to gain experience and establish networks in the communities and labor markets for which, according to the data presented here, they have a manifest desire to serve.
In an attempt to gauge BYU’s role in the education and career development of these international students who have been “drained” away form developing nations, I also interviewed directors from International Student Services, the Benson Institute, and the Study Abroad office. The coordinator for the Study Abroad programs indicated that she was aware of only one international student that had taken advantage the Study Abroad services to go back to her own country to in conjunction with her major. The Benson Institute could be a model for future programs that work with university departments of disciplines critical for development. It offers assistance to international students who are carrying out thesis oriented research, and requires that the students prepare lessons to educate the people in their particular country. The office of International Student Services currently does not have a program to coordinate internships or jobs for students in their home country, but is working on a web site to that end.
The data in this study shows that students feel the need to return to help their countries and are seeking relevant degrees to do so. Faculty are supportive, but the university lacks programs that specifically focus on helping these students fulfill what they believe to be moral obligations. To help these students, the university and the International Student Service office need to encourage the development of programs like the Benson Institute in other fields such as engineering and information technology, so that practical experience and networking in their home countries becomes a part international students’ education. As an institution sponsored by a church that emphasizes the importance of “building Zion” wherever you are in the world, BYU ought to understand how the same principle can apply to national development. With that understanding BYU can equip international students not only with a great education but also with the tools necessary to apply such an education for the development of their nations.
12001. United Nations Development Program. Human Development Report. www.undp.org/hdr2001/hdi.pdf