Brain Circulation Vs Brain Drain
When skilled labor emigrates from a country, it can be argued that it represents a loss of intellectual capital and resource to the nation. Certainly when professionals like engineers, doctors and nurses emigrate en masse, it can pose a real problem to a nation as these professionals help in delivering many critical services to the people of the country. Commentators have labeled this process of emigration of skilled labor as Brain Drain and the process of immigration of skilled labor to foreign countries as Brain Gain, denoting the gain of intellectual capital of host nations receiving this skilled labor.
But some have lately realized that Brain Drain is only one part of the story. The other part of the story relates to the social contacts and international experience the expatriates gain when working or studying in a foreign country. These experiences and social contacts are valuable resources for the country of origin of these expatriates, provided it is able to tap into them, and such a process is called Brain Circulation.
The story has been mixed so far. In some cases like Taiwan, Greater China and India, countries have profited enormously from brain circulation, while in others, brain circulation does not seem to happen in a significant way. Why brain circulation can be witnessed in certain contexts and not in others is a question that is at the forefront of research questions that academics are at present grappling with in this area of study.
Read more about this topic: Brain Circulation
Famous quotes containing the words brain, circulation and/or drain:
“Let every woman ask herself: “Why am I the slave of man? Why is my brain said not to be the equal of his brain? Why is my work not paid equally with his? Why must my body be controlled by my husband? Why may he take my labor in the household, giving me in exchange what he deems fit? Why may he take my children from me? Will them away while yet unborn?” Let every woman ask.”
—Voltairine Decleyre (1866–1912)
“We did not heed the sentries at the gate, nor did they us, and what under the sun they were placed there for, unless to hinder a free circulation of the air, was not apparent.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Why is it so difficult to see the lesbian—even when she is there, quite plainly, in front of us? In part because she has been “ghosted”Mor made to seem invisible—by culture itself.... Once the lesbian has been defined as ghostly—the better to drain her of any sensual or moral authority—she can then be exorcised.”
—Terry Castle, U.S. lesbian author. The Apparitional Lesbian, ch. 1 (1993)