Albania with high migration, leaving people educated with scientific degrees

Albania is probably the only country in Europe in the last few decades that has come under continued pressure from high migration. Except for the escapes, the fact remains frightening that Albania tops the world's list of high immigration potential. A Gallup poll in 2017 found that 56% of Albanians want to emigrate. The number of those who want to leave marked increases by 20 percentage points in proportion to the 2012 survey, where 36% of Albanians planned to emigrate. Increasing the desire for migration in the past four years is the highest in the world, according to the poll's result, but the fact that Albania has high levels of brain migration remains frightening.

A study by professors Ilir Gedesh and Russell King, on behalf of the recently published United Nations Development Programme (PNUD), showed that Albania ranks among 15 countries for higher migration of educated and scientific adults.
In 2010 and 2011, an estimated 31.3% of Albania's highly educated population was found to be in migration. The flight of highly educated people is an internal problem of countries lacking the economy of scale, and the labour market does not present potential. According to OECD data, the migration of educated Albanians in 2010 and 2011 has increased by 223% compared to 2000 and 2001. This growth was greater than migration for other parts of the middle and low education population.

Experts Gedesh and King conducted a survey of 720 doctors, PRHD and 303 students living abroad. After interviews with them, half of them nearly 49% did not intend to return to Albania, 32% replied that “are going to Albania to work, after a period of time abroad”, and only 4% said: “will return to Albania after graduation, work”. Number of Albanian students in O countries The ECD grew by 430% in 2016 in proportion to the 2000s.

Experts' research says the answers were not improvised or random, but were well-based in reasoning, reflecting not only a desire for international experience but also a perception of the future, employment and living conditions in Albania.
Andra, an Albanian student in Italy, said, "My return is conditional on employment. For this reason, most Albanian students want to know what awaits them”. “With a grim view of employment in Italy, many Albanian students prepare to emigrate to other countries”.
Jola, an Albanian student in Italy, said: “There are only a few Albanian students who want to return to Albania. If they do not find work in Italy, they aim to go to Germany, Spain, or Austria”.

The survey also found that most Albanian scientific diaspora do not want to return. Most respondents said they think they are well integrated in the host country, which provides comfort (in terms of housing, transport, infrastructure) and better career security and opportunities. In addition, children attend quality schools, social and cultural life is rich, health care, and education are of good quality, etc. Fearful remains the fact that even those doctors who want to return to Albanian universities have their doors closed.

The Reasons for Going Out by Study

Young people from Albania have an unusual desire to study abroad compared with other Western Balkan countries. Experts Gudesh and King have noted several reasons for this tendency. The first is that Albanians want to provide a better education for their children. The second hypothesis assumes that to graduate from an EU university, it would be easier for the person to find a job and integrate into the host country. The poll, conducted with 303 Albanian students abroad mainly in Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands and United Kingdom, found that 70% considered university studies as the first step to reside abroad and 24.4% responded “maybe”. Only 5.6% replied that they had started studying abroad, not as an opportunity to live there.

Arben, a former national in Italy who now heads a successful service company in Albania, said: “in the early 1990s, like many Albanians, I migrated illegally to Italy. After a few years of work, I returned and established my business in Albania. In view of the current situation, I see my son's future in one of the EU countries. Anyway, I don't want my son to emigrate and live as I did then. Therefore, I will buy his migration: I will finance his studies at a good university in the EU, thus creating easier employment and integration spaces at host country”.

Gail sees the prospect for her children along similar lines: “When I got married, things seemed to be coming back well and we decided to build our lives in Albania. But now, we think our children should build their lives abroad. Both my children study in private schools and learn German, preparing to study at a German university”.

In terms of returning to Albania after graduation, the responses of Albanian students are even clearer. 49% of them claim they don't intend to return to Albania in the near future”, 32% responded that “are due to work in Albania after a period of time abroad”.
Studies show there is a strong link between potential and real migration. In Albania, more and more are emigrating the country's student elites, where the smartest and best run away and never come back.

Professor Gedesh says that the socioeconomic consequences of this phenomenon are clear: every year human and financial resources qualified -- or, better, Albania's youth and financial elite -- leave the country irrevocably and the costs they left behind are millions of euros. According to a recent report, countries that attract graduates from poor countries are granted free supply of talented human resources. This form of migration has become a major concern for Albania's future. Erinda, an interviewed who received the doctorate in France, said: “Through brain drain, the Albanian state is losing its investment. This is one of the biggest losses for Albania”.

Scientific diaspora growing rapidly

The size and quality of the Albanian scientific diaspora is growing rapidly. Almost ten years ago, an estimated 200 Albanian doctors worked at universities, labs and scientific institutions, as well as in the OECD developed countries' corporate research departments. Actually, this number is much larger. Study The UNDP has surveyed 752 of them from Albania with PhD degrees and worked abroad. About 62% of them worked at universities and research institutions. Other patients, not integrated into universities or research institutions, are active with their professional training in businesses, industries, administration, etc. For example, the survey found that almost 97% of them, who were equipped with doctorate abroad, are at work that generally match the level of qualifications.

Study shows that in O countries The ECD is at least 2,500 doctors and candidates. For a small country like Albania, this group of researchers represents about 40% of Albanians who have a doctorate and about 25% of the country's academic potential. This ever-growing reservoir of <x0trure” can and should be mobilized for the good of the country's socioeconomic development, especially if specific conditions exist. Albanians from Kosovo and Macedonia with doctorates also contribute to the Albanian scientific diaspora, in quality and quantitative terms, and make up a fifth of the Albanian diaspora as a whole.

Here are “selectors” immigrants

Albanian scientific diaspora is relatively new, with an average age of 37 years, where 72% are younger than 40, and only 2.3% are 60 or older. Another group (12.3%) consists of those who emigrated with their parents when they were 15 or younger. This group completed only one part of pre-university education in Albania and is less emotionally linked to the country of origin.

Albanian scientific diaspora is dominated by women around 57.4%. Almost half of them emigrated for the first time during the first decade of transition in the 1990s, 37.6% in the second decade and 11.5% in the third (2010). The data shows that only 3.9% of respondents had completed their studies during the recent years of the socialist system. Nearly 48% of respondents from the scientific diaspora had worked in Albania prior to migration, and 36.9% had worked at the country's public or private universities and research institutions.

The main reason for the migration of representatives of the scientific diaspora is very different. For most, the reason was to study at a prestigious university (66.2%) or to pursue professional opportunities and training (4.5%) abroad than those offered in the country of origin. Others, who mostly emigrated with their parents or who did not leave for study purposes, highlighted economic factors (14.9%), or, to a lesser extent, political factors (3.3%). A small number, mainly professors and researchers (2.8%), cited poor infrastructure and mainly lack of research equipment in Albania.

Selecting the destination country is conditional on other factors. In this regard, two groups are observed. The first group consists mainly of doctoral candidates, who list the university's reputation, or the possibility of a scholarship, as the main reason. The second group consists of those who already have a Ph.D., who highlight job opportunities and the fact that they already know the language. Only a small number claimed to choose the waiting place because of the presence of relatives or friends.

A characteristic of the Albanian scientific diaspora is that it is rapidly growing. The number of holders of the Albanian doctorate (based in the year of completion) has increased rapidly since the fall of communism. The split of 1988-2017 to three separate decades notes that the percentage of doctors is 2.6 times higher in the second decade than in the first decade and 3.3 times higher in the third decade than in the second.

This rapid growth is expected to continue. The number of doctoral candidates from the first year increased by nearly 154%, prompted by a number of factors. First, number of Albanian immigrants in O countries The ECD is growing, and one of their immigration goals is to provide a good education for their children. Their children attend schools and universities in the host country, and some continue doctoral studies. Skarier, a professor of IT in Germany and member of the Alb-Science Institute, noted:

Albanian Migrants came to Germany when they were young and now they became parents here. They value education and want to make sure their children are educated here. For this reason, I say that the number of those who receive academic degrees is increasing”.

US and Italy, beneficiaries of Albanian doctors

Though distributed on five continents and 40 different countries, almost 72% of the Albanian scientific diaspora is concentrated on more industrialized OECD countries: United Kingdom and Germany.

The US leads 28.3% and is the main destination of the Albanian doctorate on their long journey. Survey data shows that 18% of Albanian doctors currently living in the United States complete their studies in Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands. Italy is in second place (15.3%).

Geographical proximity and cultural similarities, large stock of Albanian immigrants and favourable policies for students are among the factors that explain the large concentration of the Albanian scientific diaspora in this country. The other group of countries are France, Canada, Great Britain and Germany, more or less at the same level, about 7% each, even though their positions have changed over time. France, for example, was the main destination in early years of transition, but is now ranked lower.

More recently, Great Britain and Germany have also become destinations. Another part of the Albanian scientific diaspora (18%) has been positioned in developed countries in Western Europe, such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Austria, Belgium and Denmark. These countries offer a high quality of life, and Albanian doctors are employed in popular universities and research institutions or multinational companies.

Unlike the scientific diaspora from Albania, almost half of what from Kosovo and Macedonia are concentrated mainly in countries of Germany's traditional destination, Switzerland, Austria and the United Kingdom, and in Scandinavian. However, the US is their country of primary choice (15%). Many talented young people have attended initial university studies in Italy, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria or Cyprus and have continued with a Master or PhD study in other countries. Drini completed his Bachelor studies in Bulgaria, a master in Austria and a PhD in the United Kingdom. Mimoza, the daughter of an immigrant in the 1990s, completed his secular studies and master's studies in Italy, her doctorate and post-diplomatic career at universities in Italy, England and Japan and is now a member of a world-renowned research group in Cambridge.

Other representatives of the scientific diaspora have continued their trip to the US. Petriti, professor at an American university, said: “I completed my basic studies in Turkey and later went to the US for my master. Later, I continued to perform my doctorate, after which I began to work as a professor at a university”. Total data from surveys shows that most Albanian doctors who have emigrated from EU countries to the US have studied sciences such as biology, mathematics, IT, physics or chemistry. Meanwhile, others, pursuing a successful career, moved to other universities within the EU in order to advance in their academic careers.

Agim, who also won his doctorate in France, works for a multinational company in Southeast Asia and is one of the most prominent geologists there. About 19% of the scientific diaspora has studied (or are studying) social sciences, 18% biology, mathematics or physics, 17% for economy and business, 14% medicine and connections, 13% in engineering or construction, and 10% information or electronics.

Scientific diaspora interested in Albania

Albanian scientific diaspora, especially the first generation, maintains close ties to the country of origin. According to the study, 96% of Albanian doctors maintain regular contacts with Albania through a series of communication tools (Skype, telephone, e-mail) with relatives, friends and colleagues from universities and research institutions where they had worked earlier. About 75% visit Albania during holidays, once or more during the year, to visit parents, relatives, and friends.

Gjergji, a US university professor, said: “I spent about 15 minutes each day reading about the latest developments in Albania. A friend of mine spends about an hour and a half in detailed news from Albania. When I need to know something in detail, I ask. The internet is our source of information”.

Jon continued: “I am fortunate to have Albanian friends at my university. They are well educated and academic people, and we join at least twice a week for a coffee, just as we did in Albania and discuss politics in our country”. Aferdita, a young researcher who has just completed the doctorate in the Netherlands, said: my “mind is that of an Albanian. When I wake up in the morning, I read the first news from Albania, then the Dutch news. Of course, I also have updates for Holland. When I arrived, I was 23 years old and felt completely Albanian. Maybe I can feel more and more Dutch over the years, but I believe I will always remain Albanian”.
And Arben, a professor at an American university, said:

I consider myself an American citizen; I've lived here for ten years, I have my job, my family's interests and my life here. So I can be convinced that I am an American citizen. However, I left at a mature age, and for those like me, it would be difficult to say that I don't care what happens in Albania. I'm happy to hear about good things and I'm sorry to hear about the unpleasant things going on.

My brother and sister also live there. I have my memories. Both countries are important to me, here lies the future of my children and their children. So I'm very eager for what's happening in America. On the other hand, I am also interested in what happens in Albania”. Salvation, a researcher who currently lives in Italy, said: “First of all, I feel Albanian, although I feel somewhat like a citizen of the world. I've been around many American countries, in Europe and in many other countries, wherever my work requires me. I feel a little bit of a citizen of the world, but with a distinct Albanian stamp of”.