Brain drain

» Posted by Luísa

This graphic show us the share of brain drain on the world.

So, what means this?

- Brain drain is, according to the dictionary, the loss of skilled intellectual and technical labor through the movement of such labor to more favorable geographic, economic, or professional environments, it means that highly skilled people are leaving developing countries and they are going to the developed countries, for work and to have a better life. It causes a deep inequality between the countries. The developed are developing more and the others are in a bad situation.
The opposite is called brain gain, and consist on the immigration of qualified persons to our country. Brain drain can be stopped by providing career opportunities and giving to the people opportunities to prove their capabilities.

But, some specialists say that ''Reducing Brain Drain May Not Be the Best Answer''.

Brain drain isn't always bad, so limiting the movement of highly skilled people is not really necessary. Indeed, measures aimed at reducing the recruitment of developing-country professionals in several sectors (like health care but also in education) in some developed countries may only be a band-aid solution.

In 2000, a study revealed that, over the years, Latin American countries were very damaged. They had suffered considerable losses of specialized professionals. This is visible on the percentages:

- Argentina....2.9 %
- Brazil..........3.3 %
- Chile..........5.3 %
- Ecuador......10.9 %
- Colombia...11.0 %
- Mexico......14.3 %

The same study revealed that during the '90s, a significant number of those who emigrated from Latin America were specialized professionals, constituting the following proportions as a percent of each country's volume of emigrants:

- Mexico.........2.6 %
- Peru............10.0 %
- Chile.............15.6 %
- Argentina....19.1 %

Sources:
- http://www.migrationinformation.org/Feature/display.cfm?ID=324
- http://www.oecd.org/document/11/0,3343,en_2649_33935_39276939_1_1_1_1,00.html
- http://www.clarin.com/diario/2005/04/28/sociedad/s-03601.htm