The Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) announced higher education brain drain statistics for the 2021-2023 period. According to the data, the brain drain rate for higher education graduates, which was 1.6 percent in 2015, rose to 2 percent in 2023. The migration rate was observed to be 1.6 percent for women and 2.4 percent for men.
Sociologist Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan, evaluating the brain drain, stated that it is a phenomenon that generally occurs from less developed or developing countries to developed countries.
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan: “There's also 'virtual brain drain.' What does this mean? Today, many of our young people work for foreign companies via the internet without leaving Turkey. In other words, they are physically in Turkey, but their brains are working for abroad.”
Professor Dr. Barış Erdoğan, Head of the Sociology Department at Üsküdar Üniversitesi, evaluated the brain drain wave that Turkey has experienced in recent years.
Most of those emigrating abroad are highly educated and qualified young people…
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan stated that most of those emigrating abroad consist of highly educated and qualified young people, saying, “When we look at a country, the migration of educated, qualified individuals, especially those working in professions requiring intensive cognitive activities, is defined as brain drain. In the past, mostly manual laborers emigrated from Turkey; however, today, our country's most valuable people are emigrating.”
What does ‘virtual brain drain’ mean?
Pointing out that brain drain is generally a phenomenon occurring from less developed or developing countries to developed countries, Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan said, “This is the visible brain drain. In addition to this, there is also 'virtual brain drain.' What does this mean? Today, many of our young people work for foreign companies via the internet without leaving Turkey. In other words, they are physically in Turkey, but their brains are working for abroad. This is a situation called hidden brain drain. They work in Turkey for foreign companies and provide services to those companies.”
A country's most valuable resource is human capital; this capital is slowly slipping away
Emphasizing that brain drain has reached a dangerous dimension for Turkey, Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan stated, “The figures announced by TÜİK cover individuals who graduated between 2008 and 2017 and went abroad after those dates. Although TÜİK has not provided a precise figure, assuming 2 percent of graduates in this period, we can say that approximately 49,000 people have gone abroad. However, this is not limited to 49,000 people. We do not yet know the emigration status of graduates from 2017 to 2023. We believe the real intensity, as we frequently encounter in our surroundings, is within this period. In the past, to exploit a country, one would go to its mines and seize them. Now there is no need for that. A country's most valuable resource is human capital; however, this capital is slowly slipping away from us. This situation is quite dangerous.”
There are two main reasons for brain drain
Stating that there are two main reasons for brain drain, Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan continued:
“As someone who has lived abroad for a period, I can say this: there are two main reasons for brain drain; the first are push factors, and the second are pull factors. Push factors relate to why people want to leave here. Firstly, employment opportunities are quite limited. For example, how much employment capacity do we have in Turkey in fields like molecular biology? Neither our universities nor our private sector has sufficient capacity. In the United States, Harvard University alone has a budget of approximately 50 billion dollars including endowments. The total budget of our 200 universities is less than 10 billion dollars. When you compare a single university with our 200 universities, you can see how inadequate the opportunities offered here are, especially in technical fields. If Aziz Sancar had stayed in Turkey, could he have won a Nobel prize? If Uğur Şahin had continued his education and work in Turkey, could he have achieved the same successes?”
Educational opportunities become a pull factor for brain drain
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan stated that income levels have fallen considerably, especially due to factors like the economic crisis in Turkey in recent years, while on the other hand, there are much better living conditions and opportunities abroad. He said, “Western countries, for many years, have made conditions more difficult for blue-collar workers and immigrants in general, but on the contrary, they facilitate conditions to attract educated people. Countries like Germany, the European Union, and the United States are improving their policies towards brain drain with opportunities such as blue cards or Green Cards.”
Countries that attract the most brain drain globally…
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan also said that the countries attracting the most brain drain in the world are the United States, followed by countries like Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, and Belgium. He continued, “The United States is the center of brain drain. Even the USA receives brain drain from Canada. Because the biggest IT companies and the biggest laboratories are there. The budget of just one American university is 5 times the total budget of 200 universities in Turkey. Developments in fields such as artificial intelligence, molecular biology, and genetics, in particular, make America, which has a strong ecosystem in these areas, attractive. A successful company in this field may emerge from Turkey; however, this alone is not enough. There is a need for an industry ecosystem to support this success, a suitable corporate mindset, and a climate.”
When the chance for advancement decreases…
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan noted that when there isn't a suitable climate upon entering a company or university, many bureaucratic obstacles can be encountered. He said, “This leads a person to ask, 'What am I doing here?' The person feels their path is blocked, and their chances of advancement are diminishing. The United States is far ahead; Germany stands out as an exception in this regard.”
Not only young people, but also middle-aged and older people are emigrating abroad
Regarding which fields see more people going abroad, Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan stated that the areas referred to as "STEM" in literature, which translates to "Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics" in Turkish, are the most attractive and sought-after fields. He said, “Looking from Turkey, 2 out of every 10 graduates in fields like molecular biology and genetics go abroad. The same applies to business, engineering, mathematics, statistics, and other engineering fields. In today's and tomorrow's world, data processing and data understanding are extremely important; because artificial intelligence builds its logic upon this. For this reason, our people working in technical fields, not just young people but also middle-aged and older people, are emigrating abroad. They either go physically or, as I mentioned, they emigrate virtually; that is, their bodies remain here while their brains work for abroad.”
As opportunities change, the desire to return may also increase…
Stating that brains move very quickly in the global world, Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan continued:
“Other countries are also doing their best to support this situation and attract them. However, because sufficient opportunities are not provided here, people easily evaluate different opportunities and go abroad. It is truly not easy to go anywhere; encountering difficulties such as achieving cultural integration and language problems is inevitable. A person cannot be anywhere like their homeland. However, this migration has now become an escape from despair rather than a journey to hope. Nevertheless, returning is possible. As opportunities change, the desire to return may also increase.”
Are there more women or men among those going abroad?
Prof. Dr. Barış Erdoğan noted that the phenomenon of migration is generally carried out more by men. He said, “However, in the statistics of past years, the gap between women and men is gradually closing. This needs to be stated first. The number of women is getting closer to that of men. If this trend continues, the difference between these two groups will almost disappear in 10 years. One of the important reasons for the male dominance in brain drain is that fields like science, technology, and mathematics are preferred more by men. In terms of brain drain, many countries want to attract technical people rather than social scientists; therefore, men constitute the majority of graduates from technical fields.”