Recruiting the best minds
Scholarships for talented international students enable Switzerland to attract the best minds. According to a joint study by ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich, this is not “brain drain” but a networking opportunity that benefits everyone involved.
The University of Zurich and ETH Zurich attract students from all over the world with “cutting edge” technologies, an innovative, inspiring research environment and training opportunities that are not available to many students in their countries of origin. Scholarships help students from developing countries and emerging economies to overcome the financial barrier associated with studying in Switzerland.
But what are the career paths for these upcoming talents? Do scholarships entice them to migrate from poorer to wealthier countries, causing a “brain drain” effect? Or do international students return with their newly acquired knowledge thereby contributing to boosting research and the economy in their respective countries of origin? These questions were the focal point of a large-scale survey by ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich in which more than 300 alumni from a total of five scholarship programmes took part. The respondents answered a comprehensive questionnaire on their current place of residence, their present job, their social background and their contacts with their country of origin.
Return not necessary for knowledge transfer
About half the alumni who were awarded scholarships had not returned to their home country at the time of the survey. However, she would not speak of a “brain drain” effect, says Emma Lindberg, lead author and, at the time of the study, working at ETH Global. Many alumni who remained abroad still maintained close contact with their countries of origin, collaborating with researchers there or researching areas of importance to these countries. “A physical presence is not necessary in order to exchange ideas and knowledge,” says Lindberg.
The other half, however, had returned to their home countries, in particular students from developing countries. Lindberg and her colleagues found that reasons for this ranged from longing for friends and family to better career chances than in wealthier countries. “Those who return with their international experience and an excellent education have a greater chance of quickly becoming a professor or reaching a top management position,” explains Lindberg. Those who stayed in Switzerland or other industrialized countries had not reached such high positions at a comparable point in their careers.
Current employment and number of stays abroad following the scholarship were the only areas in which the authors found a significant difference between men and women. In relation to the overall sample, women are under-represented in higher positions. No gender-specific differences were found in regard to the return rate and network connections with the home country.
Competition for the best
“Things have changed: the new generation is more mobile. The question for promising young talents is not whether to study abroad, but where,” explains Barbara Becker, Director of Global Transformation Affairs at ETH Global. Excellent higher education institutions now also exist in many emerging countries – Switzerland and other industrialized countries are competing for the best talents.
“The mobility of students and researchers is no longer dominated by an East-West or South-North direction as it was before,” says Yasmine Inauen, Head of the International Relations Office at the University of Zurich. “Countries such as China or India are already attracting many students and researchers from other countries, and they are motivating their own researchers who have trained abroad to return by offering them attractive positions.” It is, perhaps, more a case of “brain circulation” rather than “brain drain”.
“A network not only with the Harvards of this world”
The high response rate was also indicative of the importance of scholarships for individuals: almost 80% of those asked took the time to complete the comprehensive questionnaire. Nearly all participants showed great interest in alumni networks, underlining the continuing bond with ETH and the University of Zurich.
“Thanks to such a simple instrument as these funding programmes, ETH and the University of Zurich maintain a network that not only includes the Harvards of this world but also valuable partners in developing countries and emerging economies,” says Becker.