Causes and Consequences of the Academic Migration from BRICS Countries to Developed Economies

Abstract

One of the major problems in the relationship between the Global South and the Global North is the the drain of intellectual capital from the economies and education systems of the most developed countries of the Global South, which bothers both developing countries and some European ones. The purpose of the study is to reveal the reasons for the migration of scientists and students from Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China, South Africa (BRICS countries) and identify the consequences of the process through the example of a Russian university by studying the characteristics of personal experience and motivation of students and teachers. The research is devoted to the study of academic activity abroad and the attitude of 360 four- and five-year students and 321 teachers at Novosibirsk State University (Novosibirsk, the Russian Federation) towards the practice. The survey results revealed that a relatively small number of respondents (31.07% of teachers and 9.03% of students) have experience of foreign academic activity; the large majority of participants highly assessed the possibility of studying and working abroad (4.87 and 3.48 on a 5-point Likert scale among teachers and students, respectively). The results of the study are in line with the findings of similar studies on academic migration in other BRICS countries; therefore, they can be extrapolated in a broader context. In particular, according to all respondents, the possibility of repeated or circular migration is extremely low (0.88 and 1.61). The research results can help to manage international research and exchange programs, as well as to regulate university training programs and academic migration. The novelty of the study lies in the analysis of the motivation of scientists and students on academic migrating and their assessment of migration intentions based on an example of a single educational institution and region.