Brain Drain of Pakistan

METHODS IN BUSINESS RESEARCH

Factors Causing Brain Drain in Pakistan and its Long Term Consequences

TERM REPORT

COURSE INSTRUCTOR: PROF. S. M. SAEED

RESEARCHERS:FATIQ BIN KHURSHEED

MUHAMMAD TALHA ANSARITALHA AMEER KHAN

DATE: 15/06/2011

Factors Causing Brain Drain in Pakistan and its Long Term Consequences 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

S. NO. TOPIC PAGE NO.

1 ACKNOWLEDGMENT 03

2 PART ONE 04

3 INTRODUCTION 04

4 PART TWO 05

5 LITERATURE REVIEW 05

6 RESEARCH GAP 08

7 PART THREE 09

8 PROBLEM STATEMENT 09

9 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 09

10 RESEARCH APPROACH 09

11 SAMPLING 10

12 PART FOUR 12

13 RESEARCH FINDINGS & ANALYSIS 12

14 PART FIVE 18

15 DISCUSSION 18

16 RESULTS 20

17 REFERENCES 21


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We owe special thanks to all those people who assisted and supported us in this research.

We would further like to express deepest sense of gratitude to our course instructor “Professor

Syed Mohammad Saeed” who was always ready to offer his support and guidance at any time.

His lectures were of extreme help to us in the making of this research report.


PART ONE

INTRODUCTION

The migration of skilled human capital from developing countries to the developed

countries is a global phenomenon. The country that has suffered the most from brain drain is

Pakistan. On average, annually 3,500 medical college graduates are added to the jobless list and

thus most of them move to abroad in search for better career opportunities. This was stated by

the Chairman Denmark Pakistan Chamber of Commerce (DPCC) and Research Economist Abid

Ali Abid while delivering a lecture ‘the impact of brain drain on Pakistan’s economy’ to the

members of Lahore Economic Journalist Association (LEJA). Those who consider the movement

of skilled human resources to abroad as a source of remittances for Pakistan have a myopic view.

They fail to realize the fact that absence of highly qualified doctors, engineers, scientists,

business managers etc. would hurt long term economic growth of the country. All economists

agree that any doctor who leaves his poor country leaves a hole that cannot be filled. This is

extremely harmful for the country as it is badly in need of skilled human capital which is

migrating at a very high rate in search of better jobs and educational opportunities. No country

can achieve long term economic growth by exporting its human resource.

According to the facts of Pakistan’s Overseas Employment Corporation, 36,000

professionals have left Pakistan and settled abroad in last 30 years. This number is an official one

which is very small proportion of the actual number migrants as most of the emigrants do not

register. This figure is expected to increase to 45,000 in recent years.

Many reasons for this brain drain have already been identified. The biggest problem is

the lack of attractive opportunities for highly skilled labor. Educated unemployment is at its

peak. Moreover, remuneration levels are also relatively low. The compensation level of skilled

labor is 30-40 times higher in developed countries as compared to Pakistan. But money is not the

only for moving abroad. Lack of respect of professionals is another highly rated factor.

The purpose of this study is to identify the factors causing brain drain in Pakistan and its

consequences on Pakistan economy in the longer run. This study is divided into five parts.

Second part discusses the literature review, third part highlights the research methodology, fourth

part delineates the graphical analysis and the last part discusses the findings of the study and

conclusion.


PART TWO

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

The greatest asset of any country is its highly trained and educated manpower. The

contribution that one creative and skilled labor can make can be greater than a thousand

unskilled labors. The loss of human resources, especially of skilled and intellectual workers from

a country, is referred to as the Brain Drain or the Brain Migration. ‘Brain drain’ is also

commonly referred to as ‘Human Capital Flight’. Generally the reasons for brain drain include

two aspects which come from both countries as well as individuals. When it comes to countries,

the reasons may be: In source countries: lack of opportunities, political instability, economic

depression, and health risks. In host countries: rich opportunities, political stability and freedom,

developed economy, and better living conditions. Individual reasons include family influence

(overseas relatives) and personal preference for a better and improved career and life.

The term ‘brain drain’ was initially limited to the migration of technology workers only

but with the passage of time its radius has widened and it now includes the departure of educated

and professional people from one country, economic sector, or field for another, usually for

better pay or living conditions. Brain drain or human capital flight is considered an economic

cost since individuals take with them the value of education or training provided to them by host

country. Human capital flight is similar to the concept of ‘Capital Flight’ which refers to the

movement of financial capital.

Brain Drain is a global phenomenon. Third world countries have suffered the most from

this monstrous phenomenon. Africa has been the worst hit. It is said to have lost 60,000

professional doctors, university lecturers, engineers, surveyors, etc between 1985 and 1990 and

to have been losing an average of 20,000 annually ever since (Oyowe, 1996).

Iran, Pakistan and Turkey are included among the top-30 skilled emigration countries of

the world. In 2000, the stock of skilled emigrants was 0.308 million for Iran, 0.222 million for

Pakistan and 0.174 million for Turkey (Ozden and Schiff, 2006).


The literature also highlights major areas of reasons for Brain Drain in third world

countries. Most of these reasons can be related to Pakistani Scenario to get a better

understanding.

1) ECONOMIC REASONS

Researchers argue that a highly qualified professional opts for emigration generally for

economic reasons, for example, job satisfaction, progressive environment, higher salary, better

living conditions etc. It is apparent from the history that countries that have provided these

attractions have experienced the largest number of professional migrants. Furthermore, these

migrants have made significant contributions to the economic growth of host countries. The

movement and interaction of skilled personnel is considered to be productive but the cost of

losing intellectual minds to the home countries can never be calculated in terms of both

opportunities and investment.

Poverty, ignorance, war against terrorism, and financial instability has resulted in poor

living standards in the country which has forced professionals to run away from their country.

Furthermore, lack of facilities, resources, technology, infrastructure and opportunities force these

skilled professionals to move abroad where these facilities and advanced technology is available.

2) LACK OF ACADEMIC RESOURCES

According to prior researchers, foreign countries, especially the United States and those

in Europe have been green pastures for scientists, engineers and doctors because payment at

home is negligible in comparison. The education system in Pakistan is not well structured and

developed and thus students leave for abroad for higher studies and most of them never return

since they are offered better job opportunities after completing their education. These students

think that the degree obtained from a developed country is much better than Pakistan’s.

The Pakistani Government has never paid much attention to re-engineering of its

academic institutions especially higher education universities. This is the reason why none of the

Pakistani universities was ranked among top 25 Universities of the Islamic World. Among the

top 25 most productive institutions in the Islamic World, 10 are in Turkey, 5 in Egypt, 3 in Saudi

Arabia and 2 in Malaysia. The three most productive institutions which contributed higher


number of papers belong to Turkey and are: University Hecetteppe (8979 research papers),

University of Istanbul (6488 research papers) and Ankara University (5982 research papers). The

three most productive scientists of past ten years are: Fun, HK (729 research papers) of

University Sains Malaysia, Ng,SW (530 research papers) of University Malaya and Shamsipur

M. (322 research papers) of University of Tehran (Naim and Atta ur Rahman, 2005). It is so

unfortunate to see none of Pakistani universities in these lists.

3) ROLE OF POLITICAL FACTORS

Literature on factors causing brain drain shows that political factors have a crucial role to

play in defining the trends of migration/brain drain. The reasons for the deteriorating

environment are the weaknesses we are still confronting in various areas of governance which

need to be given a strong priority and commitment on the part of the government. There is a dire

need in Pakistan to promote and practice good governance by stemming out corruption, conflicts

and tribal clashes. It is necessary to ensure unbiased and uniform distribution of resources to

make certain political stability. Diplomacy should be given a top priority to resolve conflicts

rather than going in conflicts or wars to decide disagreements. Ensuring good governance would

result in a better political stability and encourage professionals to stay in their home countries.

No prior research information was available through secondary sources on this topic in

Pakistan. A research report similar to this one was available which was conducted on the brain

drain in OIC countries. The report brought to light almost similar reasons for brain drain in OIC

countries including Pakistan. Moreover, the research also pointed out some measures that could

help prevent loss of intellectual minds of these countries. These preventions include:

Improvement of working conditions in private sector

Investment in research and development

Development of technological capabilities

Identification of job opportunities for educated individuals

Facilitation of social insurance benefits

Development and strengthening of operating institutions


2.2 RESEARCH GAP

The main purpose of this research is to fill the gap in knowledge between the previous

researches regarding the main factors that cause job dissatisfaction among employees in small

organizations. Most of the researches point out factors influencing employee satisfaction and

motivation in developing world and their preventive measures. But no meaningful research has

been conducted specifically relating to Pakistan. This study aims to study reasons that de-

motivate employees to perform better and leave organizations in the context of small

organizations in Pakistan. This purpose will be achieved by studying IBA Grads as sample

organization.


PART THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Pakistan has been going through the worst period of its more than 63 years of history.

There is a lot of uncertainty and instability in the country in the areas of economy, politics,

justice, technology, infrastructure, security etc. One of the most significant reasons highlighted

for these problems is Brain Drain or Human Capital Flight. The skilled personnel, which are like

the guardians of this country, leave their homeland and serve host countries. The migration of

these skilled and educated individuals is a huge economic loss to the country as well as nation.

There are quite many causes of brain drain from Pakistan. Search for a better life and career is

the primary reason identified for professional’s migration. This research paper aims to identify

other causes of brain drain and their level of contribution to skilled personnel’s migration in

comparison to primary one recognized.

3.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

To solve a problem, a problem must be completely defined. Brain drain is a symptom and

not the problem. The problem lies in the reasons causing human capital flight. To stop brain

drain from Pakistan, all causes of migration must be identified so that it is easier for the policy

makers to formulate strategies to bring an end to this monstrous phenomenon. This research

paper aims to fulfill this objective. The paper intends to highlight all the factors causing

migration of professionals and thus help policy makers in their objective.

3.3 RESEARCH APPROACH

The researchers make use of both types of researches i.e. qualitative and quantitative

research. The researcher makes use of the qualitative techniques first to understand and define

the problem and afterward they use the quantitative approach to substantiate the responses. The

research was done in three different stages which are discussed below: i) Desk Research, ii)

Focus Groups and iii) Surveys.


3.3.1 RESEARCH DESK

To better understand the topic various studies were skimmed. The secondary research

helped us in designing the questionnaire for focus group and as well as for the survey.

3.3.2 FOCUS GROUP

Conducting focus groups is one of the qualitative techniques used by the researcher in

order to gain insights about the researched topic. They basically guide the proper direction to

follow in the entire course of the research. In our research, after the literature review we took

help of the insights gained in the focus groups. We conducted only one focus group which was in

Institute of Business Administration, Karachi. The moderator of the focus group was Fatiq Bin

Khursheed. The participants of focus group were both male and female undergraduate students

of IBA. The reason for selecting students for focus group was that these students are future

leaders and guardians of this country.

3.3.3 SURVEYS

After focus groups, a proper questionnaire was formulated keeping in view the insights

gained from the respondents. Then a survey was conducted covering the youth segment of

Karachi from all the fields of interest. We distributed Two Hundred and Fifty questionnaires

throughout, however due to non-response error and missing responses, the total number of

questionnaires used in the research was cut down to Two Hundred.

3.4 SAMPLING

We have used stratified sampling technique to define our sample. The sample

comprised of Two Hundred respondents all of which were undergraduate students. In

order to get responses from all the fields, the questionnaires were distributed in business

schools, engineering universities, and medical colleges. For that matter we covered IBA,

NED, SSUET, AKU, Dow Medical College, and Bahria University. The distribution is graphed

as follows:


PART FOUR

RESEARCH FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

We have selected the sample from universities of Karachi, like IBA, NED, NUST, SIR

SYED UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY, DUHS, and KMDC etc. We

have only observed the behavior of Medical, Engineering and Business Students, because we

want to narrow down our target population, in order to make the conclusion as concise and

accurate as possible. This sample is defined to fill up our questionnaire as well as for focus

group.

Our sample has 200 students, all at the undergraduate level and has the following

composition; as shown in pie chart 1.

50%

28%

22%

Sample Distribution

Business Students (125)Engineering Students (70)Medical Students (55)Sample Distribution

BusinessEngineeringMedical


80 students from Business Schools

70 from Engineering Universities

50 from Medical Universities

Our sample participants/respondents are from diverse educational background, and the

following disintegration; as in pie chart 2.

120 students have done intermediate

80 students have done Advanced Levels

After conducting the survey, we have observed that out of the sample of 200 students,

160 students want to move abroad. These 160 students include; 60 business students, 60

engineers and 40 medical students, as shown in pie chart;

Sample Educational Background

intermediateA levels

Students willing to move abroad

Business StudentEngineersMedical Students


Students, who are planning to stay in Pakistan, identify the varied reasons, as shown in

chart. We have already mentioned that there are 40 students do not want to move abroad, out of

20 business students, 16 are staying because of family business and 4 students are because they

are planning to start their own business. Out of 10 engineers, 2 students are staying only because

they do not have any relatives abroad for the purpose of accommodation, while 4 are saying that

they have some financial constraints or cannot find job abroad and remaining 4 prefer to live in

Pakistan only because of their parents. Out of 10 medical students, 4 students are staying only

because they do not have any relatives abroad for the purpose of accommodation, while 2 are

saying that they have some financial constraints or cannot find job abroad and remaining 4 prefer

to live in Pakistan only because of their parents.

As a result of these 40 students preference to live in Pakistan, our sample for rest of the

research reduced to 160 students. Out these 160 students (respondent), there are almost 50%

engineers who want to migrate to Middle East.

Business Students Engineers Medical Students

Parents 0 4 4

Family Business 16 0 0

Entrepreneurship 4 0 0

No Relatives Abroad 0 2 4

Financial/Job Con-straint

0 4 2

5%15%25%35%45%55%65%75%85%95%

Students who prefer to stay in Pakistan


These days most of the engineers pursue their future in Oil and Gas sector and in

Construction sector, and since Middle Eastern countries are rich in petroleum reservoirs

therefore, mechanical, chemical, electronics and petroleum students prefer to move these oil rich

countries.

Among the remaining 60 Business students, almost 35% students are willing to move to

Canada, mainly because most of highest rating business schools are in Canada. Medical

education of Pakistan is given greater importance in America; therefore almost 60% of medical

students of DUHS and KMDC are willing to provide their services to Americans.

Only 12.5% of these 160 undergraduate level students are willing to come back to

Pakistan. The reasons, that forced these students to pursue their future in their motherland

include; patriotism, family business, social life abroad, parents etc. as shown in figure;

Business Students Engineers Medical Students

Canada 22 8 2

Europe 14 14 8

U.S 18 10 24

Middle East 6 28 6

5%

15%

25%

35%

45%

55%

65%

75%

85%

95%

Students who prefer to go abroad

Axis Title


Business Student Engineers Medical Student

Patriotism 4 0 2

Parents 0 4 2

Family Business 2 0 0

Social life Abroad 0 4 2

5%15%25%35%45%55%65%75%85%95%

Students who will come back to Pakistan

According to our research, 6 business students, 8 engineers and 6 medical students are

willing to come to Pakistan. As it is sown in the figure, 4 engineers and 2 medical student are

willing to come to only because of parental pressure and unfavorable social life abroad, while

only 2 out 60 business student is willing to come because of family business.

On the other end, 2 medical students out 40 and 4 business student show love for

Pakistan, and are raring to do something for the country and nation.

Almost 75% students are staying abroad only because of friends and teachers pressure, it

means these two factors seem to be the most determining factors for the student to migrate

abroad and serve there. Parents are the least effective factor forcing the students to cause huge

human capital loss.


Business Student Enineers Medical Students

Friends 18 16 14

Teachers 22 18 16

Parents 6 8 0

Sibling 8 10 4

5%15%25%35%45%55%65%75%85%95%

Inernal Influencial Factors causing Brain Drain

Axis Title

Keeping external factors apart, internal factors which includes; sibling, friends, family

and teachers also influences the students to migrate from Pakistan. Out of 54 business students,

who decided to stay abroad, 22 students are influenced by their teachers, 18 students by friends 8

by siblings to serve people who are not living in Pakistan. Similarly, out of 52 engineers, who

decided to stay abroad, 18 students are influenced by their teachers, 16 students by friends and

10 by siblings to serve people who are not living in Pakistan. Finally, out of 34 medical students,

who decided to stay abroad, 16 students are influenced by their teachers, 14 students by friends 4

by siblings to serve people living abroad.

Only 5% students do not acknowledge the fact

that this human capital loss is hurting the national

welfare, economic conditions and social life in

Pakistan. Only 2 business students and 2 medical

students do not admit that current plight is due to this

flight of human capital, but the rest says that if they

stay in the country situation will improve. Consequently, 90% of the students said that

95%

5%

Loss Recognition

YesNo


Government is not realizing the severity of problem and have not taken any significant steps to

curb this ever growing issue of Brain Drain.

Other than internal factors as mentioned above, there are enormous external influences

forcing potential future leaders to pursue their future life and future in the country other than

their homeland. Following are the rating given by the undergraduate students to 10 external

factors responsible for Brain Drain.

RATINGS BY STUDENTS

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th

Law and Order plight 22 19 18 0 19 11 0 9 0 2

Dry job market 15 14 5 0 11 20 19 0 15 1

Poor economic condition in Pakistan

11 15 6 10 17 0 21 20 0 0

Future of Pakistan 0 19 18 0 22 4 0 10 10 17

Political instability 10 0 0 19 13 16 14 0 14 14

Fast diminishing nationalism 18 12 20 0 0 14 0 8 6 22

Population explosion 0 0 12 25 0 0 15 16 19 13

Bad governance 14 17 15 19 9 16 3 5 2 0

Corruption 10 0 6 17 0 2 19 22 15 9

Lack of motivation 0 4 0 10 9 17 9 10 19 22


PART FIVE

5.1 DISCUSSION

After using different tools for conducting research to achieve research objective, we have

observed that 20% of our sample students want to pursue their career in Pakistan. Assuming no

Sampling Error, we may conclude that 80% of undergraduate students in Business, Engineering

and Medical universities want move in a foreign country and around 70% students want to live

abroad for rest of their life.

Business Students prefer to live in Pakistan in order to become the successor of their

family business or to set up their own business. These two motives exhibit by business leader are

laudable, because it will not only provide the employment but also improve the economic

conditions as it will increase the GDP by some small amount. If Only 25% of total business

students can make an impact on our economy, imagine increasing this amount to cent percent

and impact will be enormous. Almost all Engineers and Medical Students are staying because

family issues and financial constraints. It means they are staying willingly to serve the nation,

but if provided with an opportunity they will fly abroad.

Most of the Business Students are willing to move to U.S, Canada and Europe, and very

few want to move to Middle Eastern countries, only reason we can assumed out of it is that

countries like U.S, Canada and Europe are rated highly business wise globally. Since U.S is

providing both job and higher studies opportunities to Medical Students therefore, half of them

are enthusiastic to go there. Similarly, since most of the Middle Eastern are giving prospective

jobs to engineers like Civil, Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics students therefore half of

engineers are seeing Middle East as potential markets for them.

Though very few students are willing to come to serve the nation, but again business

students are coming to Pakistan only to improve the economic conditions of Pakistan, and

engineers and medical students are returning just because of social and family reasons.

There are number of external factors which are forcing the students to migrate, these factors

includes;


Worst law and order situation in the country, which is not apt for doing business or even

to have a peace of mind

Presence of both frictional and cyclical unemployment, which bring agitation among the

students

Economic state is not going from bad to worse day by day, leaving no hope for students

Political instability also brings discourage, our political leaders are oblivious of plight in

the country as there are more involve in corruption

Our government always takes dictation from others, and leaving no trust for people.

Ever growing population, with depleting resources and supplies in the country, giving

hint to have greater import with decreasing export.

Our bureaucrats, politicians and government personnel are all involve in bribery, leaving

nation in enigma.

Fast diminishing nationalism

Bleak future of Pakistan

Lack of motivation to pursue future here in Pakistan, after taking into consideration

above mention issues.

According to our research, 22% students rate the ‘poor law and order condition’ as the

most influential factor for capital flight. After taking into consideration the ratings given by

students, we may state that factors like poor law and order, fast diminishing nationalism; dry job

market, bad governance and Poor economic condition in Pakistan are the most responsible factor

for Brain Drain. Moreover, we may also conclude that factor like, lack of motivation, political

instability, and future of Pakistan are the least influential factor for capital flight.

Keeping above mention external factors apart, there are also few internal reasons

responsible for this problem as well. Teachers at the university level forcing their intelligent

students to move from Pakistan, and in addition to this, friend are also playing their part

significantly in forcing the potential future leaders to leave their motherland. Though 95% of

students recognizing loss, Brain Drain are causing but they are very dejected by the government

seriousness in acknowledging this issue.


5.2 RESULTS

Huge chunk of students at the undergraduate level are planning to leave Pakistan, and

there are number of internal factors – teachers and friends – and external factors – poor law and

order, fast diminishing nationalism; dry job market, bad governance and Poor economic

condition in Pakistan persuading these prospective students and potential leaders of tomorrow to

leave their motherland forever. Brain drain is the serious dent to our economy as number of

future doctors, scientists and businessmen are flying away, without returning back to society all

benefits they have taken during the time period they were in Pakistan. It means the taxes taken

from the poor people to fund the higher level of education in Pakistan are basically transferring

to foreign country.


REFERENCES

Brain Drain. (2011, April 4). Retrieved May 2011, from Skills Info Blog: http://skillsinfo.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/brain-drain-21-articles-chosen-by-skillsinfo/

Brain Drain in Pakistan to hurt long term growth. (2008, August 12). Retrieved May 2011, from http://www.defence.pk/forums/economy-development/13447-brain-drain-pakistan-hurt-long-term-growth.html

Pakistan - the worst country hit by brain drain. (2009, July 05). Retrieved May 2011, from Daily Times: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\07\05\story_5-7-2009_pg5_8

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Brain Drain of Pakistan

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