Where do the brainy Italians go, and why?

Highly educated and skilled Italians take their talent abroad in search of better funds, career opportunities and payoffs. Despite Europe's attempts to retain ‘brains’, 30,000 Italian researchers leave each year, while only 3,000 qualified scientists go to Italy.

It is no wonder the media, policymakers and scholars have used the term “brain drain” in recent years to describe this phenomenon.

In reality ‘brain circulation’ is more fitting for scientists and researchers since it is necessary in today’s globalised world if one wishes to stay competitive. But the issue of brain drain can have grave consequences for countries such as Italy that offer public education.

Skilled foreign workers are in high demand and contribute to innovation, research and development, and economic growth. Brain circulation’s costs and benefits are hotly debated but as long as migration is not permanent and ‘brains’ return to the country of origin, it can be a win-win scenario.

In a chapter in the 2010 book, The Labour Market Impact of the EU Enlargement, Elena D’Agosto and I examined why and for how long highly skilled Italian researchers, along with educated professionals, moved to the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other European Union countries.

Push and pull

Among the top reasons for emigrating were over-regulated bureaucracy, rigid hierarchies and scientific fragmentation as well as lack of resources and facilities in Italy.

‘Pull’ factors include the better scientific reputations of universities abroad as well as luring factors such as better salaries, opportunities and investments. ‘Push’ factors involve low research investments, low salaries, lack of facilities, a cumbersome recruitment system, corruption and bureaucracy.

Lack of research funds, a bureaucratic university system that depends on the government and politicians, and the absence of career options outside academia make for an inefficient and sub-optimal system.

Italian higher education suffers from a cumbersome bureaucracy, cronyism, nepotism, lack of transparency and political interventions. This not only constitutes a push factor for gifted Italian scientists but is also a barrier for talented scientists wishing to go to Italy.

Additionally, unlike the US, there are not many positions available in Italy for scientists and researchers outside of universities and institutes.

Often, PhDs awarded have a static and non-competitive character and graduates do not have an entrepreneurial spirit, any management background, or internships with a company. The private sector, thus, prefers not to hire PhDs. The character of the Italian PhD maintains a gap between research and development (see Riccardo Pietrabissa, 2011).

Many feel that Italian higher education institutions are not in sync with different stakeholders although the government’s General Reform of University Education – called Law 240/2010 – launched a framework for regulating partnerships between academia and industry. A few bilateral relations with the business sector have already been established.

Figures and rankings

Yet since Italy reformed its higher education system in 2000, the number of doctorate degrees rose from 3,500-10,000 in 2007 and close to 13,000 in 2008, according to Eurostat. While the system is still undergoing reforms, many question their effectiveness.

According to the QS World University Rankings of 2012-13, covering 874 universities, Italy was ranked 216 with Sapienza University of Rome. The Times Higher Education rankings, of about 400 universities in Europe, rated Italy at 251.

So in 2013, in rankings affecting a university’s reputation, Italy is not among the top 100 and nor is it in the Shanghai Jiao Tong Academic Ranking of World Universities in 2013.

Vision & Value’s 2010 ranking of Italian universities showed that while the UK attracted 13,000 foreign students from more advanced countries, Italy attracted 8,500 from Albania. Almost 30% of total foreign students enrolled come from only three countries: Albania, Greece and Romania – and more than 20% are from Albania alone.

The unemployment rate of university-educated individuals in Italy is 5.3%, a figure above the European Union (EU) and United States averages. Simultaneously, there is a low level of public and private research and development investment, which consequently dampens research outcomes and produces low performance levels.

The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010 from the World Economic Forum gave Italy 50 for innovation. The US was number one, Japan number four, and fellow EU countries such as Germany, Belgium, France and Portugal ranked 7, 14, 18, and 33 respectively.

The Researchers Report – 2012 “Country Profile: Italy”, produced by Deloitte, revealed that, in 2009, national R&D intensity in Italy was 1.21% while the EU average was 1.90%, primarily because of Italy’s low industrial R&D.

Internationalisation and policies

Italian universities are lacking internationalisation and there are instances where some of the country's university degrees are not recognised in other EU countries, such as a masters from Italy in Spain, which raises questions about Italy’s competitive edge.

Initiatives by Italian professors in the US have resulted in the signing of formal or informal memoranda of understanding between US and Italian universities. Accordingly, some US universities may have a campus in Italy for a semester or a year of study abroad and students can receive a double degree, such as the links between Temple University in Rome and New York University in Florence.

But Italy has been left behind other OECD countries that have relaxed their immigration policies to take advantage of international students, as well as of short-term research visits from international scientists.

Italy needs to offer courses in English and internationalise its curricula but, unfortunately, the 2007 recession had a negative impact on university reforms and internationalisation. Many universities cut academic and non-academic staff by 10.6% and 17% respectively (see Stefano Paleari, “Interdisciplinary doctoral programmes”, Turin, 17 January 2013).

Interestingly, Italy received starting funds from the European Research Council but, unlike other recipient countries, these were hosted in another European country. This could be attributed to a national research system that is functioning sub-optimally.

Our study

Using the 2001 census, Elena D’Agosto and I empirically investigated the major determinants of country choice by Italian scientists who migrate abroad. Based on a sample of 230 females and 442 males between 24 and 65 years of age who had received an Italian Laurea, or BA, we estimated the probability of scientists going to the US or Canada, the UK, or other EU countries.

We found the main destination was the US, attracting about 34% of Italian brains, followed by 26% going to the UK, while France ranked high among the rest, attracting 11%.

The top three reasons for international migration were cited as lack of research funding, better conditions abroad from an economic standpoint, and better career opportunities abroad.

Among women, the UK is a preferred destination. Italians who go abroad for less than two years go to other EU countries; those who leave for two-10 years choose the UK; and those leaving for more than 10 years choose the US.

A higher percentage of scientists with a PhD and working experience from Italy go to the US or Canada and other EU countries, whereas more than half the Italians with a PhD from abroad go to the UK.

For the three country groups, Italians acknowledge the number one pull factor is better economic conditions abroad, whereas the most serious push factor is lack of research funds, especially for those who went to the US.

The number one requirement for return migration to Italy was remuneration competitive with payments abroad: 59% of Italians in the US and other EU countries, along with 50% in the UK, would contemplate going back for a higher salary than the going rate in Italy.

Another condition was research funds: 43% of Italians in the US feel strongly about this, whereas 35% would require research funds to return from other EU countries, and 29% of those in the UK would require research funds as an incentive to return.

* Amelie Constant is programme director of migration at the Institute for the Study of Labor in Bonn, Germany, and a visiting professor at George Washington University in Washington DC. “Where do the Brainy Italians Go?” is a chapter in The Labour Market Impact of the EU Enlargement, FE Caroleo and F Pastore (editors): Physica-Verlag Heidelberg, Germany, pp 247-271.