Exploring the role of education in a MIRAB economy: Brain drain or brain gain? The case of Wallis and Futuna

<p>Pursuit of higher education overseas is becoming a common pathway for young Wallisians and Futunans. A constructivist grounded theory study demonstrates that education has provided (i) a new exit route for young people, (ii) an opportunity to access employment overseas and (iii) an opportunity to access employment at home. Through Talanoa interviews, it was found that the decisions to settle permanently or to return are influenced by cultural, political, economic and structural factors amplified by the slow amalgamation of two conflicting systems. Many students are steered by the French education system and unable to return due to unsuited qualifications. Others choose not to return as a response to underdeveloped structures that constrain the use of qualifications in Wallis and Futuna. Access to education has seemingly intensified clashes between a ‘modern’ system based on equality of opportunity and a customary hierarchy where everyone has a place in society. Despite the need for qualifications, access to employment in Wallis and Futuna in practice is dependent on class structures and networks as a result of low employment opportunities and high labour availability. Yet, evidence of localisation and changing attitudes towards qualifications has suggested a new dimension of the brain gain. Young determined graduates have demonstrated strategic use of resources overseas and adapted new knowledge to the customary and political context. Access to education has proved to be a key component of the MIRAB society in Wallis and Futuna and a potential catalyst for a new stability, a possible post-MIRAB economy.</p>

Exploring the role of education in a MIRAB economy: Brain drain or brain gain? The case of Wallis and Futuna

<p>Pursuit of higher education overseas is becoming a common pathway for young Wallisians and Futunans. A constructivist grounded theory study demonstrates that education has provided (i) a new exit route for young people, (ii) an opportunity to access employment overseas and (iii) an opportunity to access employment at home. Through Talanoa interviews, it was found that the decisions to settle permanently or to return are influenced by cultural, political, economic and structural factors amplified by the slow amalgamation of two conflicting systems. Many students are steered by the French education system and unable to return due to unsuited qualifications. Others choose not to return as a response to underdeveloped structures that constrain the use of qualifications in Wallis and Futuna. Access to education has seemingly intensified clashes between a ‘modern’ system based on equality of opportunity and a customary hierarchy where everyone has a place in society. Despite the need for qualifications, access to employment in Wallis and Futuna in practice is dependent on class structures and networks as a result of low employment opportunities and high labour availability. Yet, evidence of localisation and changing attitudes towards qualifications has suggested a new dimension of the brain gain. Young determined graduates have demonstrated strategic use of resources overseas and adapted new knowledge to the customary and political context. Access to education has proved to be a key component of the MIRAB society in Wallis and Futuna and a potential catalyst for a new stability, a possible post-MIRAB economy.</p>

Brain Gain in Fiji? How do past emigrants’ experiences shape the education decisions and emigration plans of tertiary students in Fiji?

<p>This thesis examines the case of Fijian youths’ increasing demand for higher education in order to explore the brain gain theorem. Its primary aim is to understand how past emigrants’ experiences shape the education decisions and emigration intentions of tertiary students in Fiji. This is achieved through semi-structured interviews with Fijian youths as well as an examination of policy and media reports. The research questions through which these aims are achieved are: Why do Fijian students enter higher education? Do Fijian students intend to migrate, and if so, why or why not? And what are the constraints and obstacles to Fijian students’ emigration intentions? The central conclusion of this thesis is that the brain gain effect is present in Fiji because half of the student-participants responded to the incentive effect, defined as the prospect of migration raising the expected returns to higher education, which is created by two distinct cultures of migration and three of the Fijian governments’ initiatives. The strength of their social ties determined whether they had perfect or imperfect information about the constraints and obstacles to their emigration intentions which in turn, determined the type of brain gain effect Fijian communities may be experiencing. In this thesis, the relationship between emigration and human capital formation is understood through the notion of the brain gain effect, defined as prospect of migration leads to a higher average level of education per individual in origin countries. Existing empirical studies have employed quantitative methods to establish the correlation between past emigration rates and current enrolment rates. The significance and novelty of this thesis lies in its adoption of qualitative case study methods in which real people were asked what they are doing and why, thus bringing us closer to a causal understanding of the relationship between higher education and emigration. In addition, by including ethnic and skill-level variables in the research design, this thesis shows that those remaining behind after upskilling may be some of Fiji’s ‘best and brightest.’</p>

Brain Gain in Fiji? How do past emigrants’ experiences shape the education decisions and emigration plans of tertiary students in Fiji?

<p>This thesis examines the case of Fijian youths’ increasing demand for higher education in order to explore the brain gain theorem. Its primary aim is to understand how past emigrants’ experiences shape the education decisions and emigration intentions of tertiary students in Fiji. This is achieved through semi-structured interviews with Fijian youths as well as an examination of policy and media reports. The research questions through which these aims are achieved are: Why do Fijian students enter higher education? Do Fijian students intend to migrate, and if so, why or why not? And what are the constraints and obstacles to Fijian students’ emigration intentions? The central conclusion of this thesis is that the brain gain effect is present in Fiji because half of the student-participants responded to the incentive effect, defined as the prospect of migration raising the expected returns to higher education, which is created by two distinct cultures of migration and three of the Fijian governments’ initiatives. The strength of their social ties determined whether they had perfect or imperfect information about the constraints and obstacles to their emigration intentions which in turn, determined the type of brain gain effect Fijian communities may be experiencing. In this thesis, the relationship between emigration and human capital formation is understood through the notion of the brain gain effect, defined as prospect of migration leads to a higher average level of education per individual in origin countries. Existing empirical studies have employed quantitative methods to establish the correlation between past emigration rates and current enrolment rates. The significance and novelty of this thesis lies in its adoption of qualitative case study methods in which real people were asked what they are doing and why, thus bringing us closer to a causal understanding of the relationship between higher education and emigration. In addition, by including ethnic and skill-level variables in the research design, this thesis shows that those remaining behind after upskilling may be some of Fiji’s ‘best and brightest.’</p>

A diáspora lusitana contemporânea. Associações e outras redes sociais na emigração portuguesa

Resumo: O interesse global nas práticas de engajamento dos emigrantes em diáspora tem crescido um pouco por todo o mundo. São disso exemplo as políticas ligadas ao retorno de emigrantes qualificados, à promoção de brain gain, ou destinadas a estimular a formação de redes de diáspora. Através de políticas públicas e de uma estratégia de comunicação eficaz poderia ser possível, pelo menos do ponto de vista do país de origem, reverter o sentimento de perda sociológica que representa a emigração de uma parte da sociedade nacional. Baseado num mapeamento global do movimento associativo português, o artigo encontra-se estruturado em duas partes. Na primeira parte, discutem-se as perspetivas teóricas que têm analisado as políticas e as práticas de vinculação dos migrantes aos seus países de origem. Na segunda, partindo da análise da recente emigração portuguesa, analisam-se, através de uma proposta de tipologia, as atuais formas organizativas dos portugueses no exterior.

Education and Migration:

The Indian diaspora consists of low- and semi-skilled migrants mainly tothe Middle-East; migration of the highly-skilled to developed countries;and cross-border students who seek employment and remain in their hostcountries. India initially viewed the migration of the best educated fromits prestigious institutions as ‘brain drain’. However, with the reverse flowof these professionals, the diaspora came to be seen as ‘brain gain’. Thehighly-skilled Indian diaspora assumed positions of responsibility in thecorporate world, in academia (including Nobel laureates), and in the politicaland social spheres in some host countries, thereby enhancing India’simage abroad. Key words: India, skilled migration, human aspirations, brain drain, braingain