Academic Mobility or Brain Drain? Current Trends and Future Perspectives in Higher Education in Europe

Authors: Giousmpasoglou, C., Marinakou, E. and Koniordos, S.

Conference: ‘Beyond economic contribution: Migrant Identities, Working Lives and Social Embeddedness’

Dates: 25-27 April 2018

Place of Publication: University of Lincoln

Abstract:

The European Union (EU) academic mobility initiatives provided the opportunity to a great number of academics, researchers and students to enhance their skills and improve their career potential in the past three decades. The popularity of particular member states such as Germany and the U.K. has created an influx of highly skilled academic staff in these counties. The changes in the EU Higher Education (HE) and Research frameworks initiated in the late 1990s in conjunction with the internationalisation of HE have left many countries behind since they failed to reform their national HE systems. The 2008 economic crisis has triggered an exodus of academics and researchers, mainly from the countries that suffered more. This paper critically discusses the impact of temporary and long term academic mobility from both sending (brain drain) and receiving (brain gain) member states’ perspective. The paper also explores the impact of BREXIT in the UK’s higher education.

Source: Manual