The Migration Intentions of University Staff in North Macedonia: A Potential Brain Drain?

ABSTRACT

Skilled labor is an important asset for any country in its development process. The emigration of skilled personnel presents the threat of a “brain drain” which can affect a country’s growth, development and the quality of education. In this paper, brain drain is represented by the loss of academic staff and researchers from the country of North Macedonia. The intention to leave is driven by low wages and standards of living, the perception that there is “no future” in North Macedonia, a lack of promotion possibilities based on merit, and political influence in universities. Policy recommendations are suggested for institutions to develop strategies to retain academic and research staff.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic staff
• brain drain
• migration intentions
• North Macedonia

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• J60 General
• J68 Public Policy
• I20 General
• C39 Other

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Eurostat (2021). First permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship, 9 August 2021. Retrieved from: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/MIGR_RESFIRST_custom_487019/default/table?lang=en.

2. See Schengenvisainfo, 11 March 2021, Skilled workers from Western Balkans benefited most from Germany’s Skilled Immigration Act in 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/skilled-workers-from-western-balkans-benefited-most-from-germanys-skilled-immigration-act-in-2020/.

3. Leitner’s analysis was applied to the six WB countries, looking at net migration trends by age and educational level for the period 2010–2019. Her results show substantial brain drain from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo and some evidence of “brain return” for Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. This brain gain was not made up of returning academics and experienced professionals but, rather, of students returning from their studies abroad.

4. See also World Bank (2021). North Macedonia’s growth projected higher, but economy still faces risks. 21 October 2021. Retrieved from: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/10/21/north-macedonia-s-projected-growth-higher-but-economy-still-faces-risks.

5. The ethnic bias in the response rate could be related to the fact that the survey was launched from an Albanian-language university by ethnic-Albanian researchers (the first and third authors). There are five state universities and fifteen private universities in North Macedonia. According to data from the NM State Statistical Office (2021), of the 4,288 academic staff in NM universities in the academic year 2020–2021, 3,103 (72%) are of Macedonian ethnic background and 956 (22%) are of Albanian ethnic background. The remainder are Serbian, Turkish, Bosnian, Vlach, Roma or mixed/undeclared.

6. It is worth noting that the 38% figure is 30 percentage points lower than the response to the same question in the survey by Dokmanoviq (2017) to a smaller sample (N = 81).

7. This correlation was between dummies reflecting the academic title at the time of the survey and the age variable. The academic title variable was excluded from the model mainly because of the correlation with age. It was not significant and excluding it from the model did not affect the results.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Merita Zulfiu Alili

Merita Zulfiu Alili is an Associate Professor of Labour Economics at the Faculty of Contemporary Social Sciences, South East European University, Tetovo, North Macedonia. Merita completed her MSc and PhD studies in Economics at Staffordshire University, United Kingdom. In 2015, 2018 and 2021 she joined CERGE-EI Career Integration Fellows, Prague. She was engaged as a researcher and expert in several projects in the area of migration. Merita’s scientific interests are: labour migration, foreign direct investment, labour market inequality, gender equality, transition economies.

Russell King

Russell King is Professor of Geography, University of Sussex, UK and Visiting Professor in Migration Studies at Malmö University, Sweden. He has long-standing interests in all forms of migration and a special interest in the Western Balkan region, where he has participated in survey research on student and academic/scientific migration.

Memet Memeti

Memet Memeti is policy making and governance expert with MPA from Indiana University and PhD and currently is Full Professor at SEEU in the area of decision making process in the local government in the Republic of North Macedonia. His interest is public management, public policies, public administration reform, decentralization, gender equality and inter ethnic relations, leadership and institutional and human development of the PA, governance, citizen participation, gender mainstreaming and social inclusion. He has worked in variety of projects in Macedonia and WB countries in the area of public administration, decentralization, good governance with focus on the gender, GRB and capacity building of public sector organizations on institutionalizing gender mainstreaming and GRB.