The Brain Drain Within Africa

The Brain Drain Within Africa

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The following is from a guest post to the Chronicle’s WorldWise blog, written by John D. Holm, the former director of the Office of International Education and Partnerships at the University of Botswana and director of international programs at Cleveland State University:

International-development experts have expressed much concern about the brain drain of African scholars to universities in North America and Europe. Largely neglected in this discussion is the movement of academics taking place within Africa itself. This exodus occurs in two forms: scholars obtaining top-level jobs outside of academe in their home countries, and scholars migrating to better paying university jobs in more developed African countries.

In almost every case, the universities losing talent are also losing the time and resources they spent to cultivate their faculties. In one way or another, the universities often have mobilized considerable funds for their professors to receive four or five years of graduate education in the developed world. They have also in many cases provided research grants and money to travel to conferences.