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Over the last few decades, internationalization has become one of the major aspects of many universities’ development agenda. Such internationalization initiatives as study abroad and dual degree programs create greater academic mobility; however, they frequently present a risk of potential brain drain. Brain drain is commonly defined as the emigration of well-educated and skilled individuals from their home to another country, with less developed countries suffering from this phenomenon to a greater extent. Higher education institutions and national governments across the world have been trying to retain these individuals through improving the system of higher education, and increasing job advancement and research opportunities. This chapter examines the phenomenon of brain drain as well as its current trends and implications in the higher education sector. It pays particular attention to the case of Russia with its increased emigration of highly educated and skilled professionals over the last two decades, while also drawing on examples from other countries’ policies and practices. The chapter explores different programs and initiatives introduced on institutional and governmental levels to address the issue of brain drain in the context of internationalization of higher education.

Contemporary international migrations are changing the global labor landscape. However, not all labor migration results are beneficial. Some home countries lose a great amount of home-educated labor to host countries that offer better working and living conditions, consequently lowering the available amount of critically needed intellectual capital for national utility. Ideally, host countries seeking workers should strive to develop a national policy that maximize “brain gain” by attracting workers with complimentary skills and knowledge to fill local employment gaps. Conversely, donor countries that send workers abroad should develop policies that minimize its brain drain by encouraging their skilled citizens to return home after acquiring enhanced skills and knowledge, thus taking advantage of “brain circulation” effects. Therefore, a nation’s best interest, either a host or donor country, may be best served through the development of protocols that minimize friction during the migration process for preferred migrants. Using Malaysia, as an example, we argue that the recognition of dual citizenship would be the appropriate prescription in reducing the “Great Brain Drain” problem afflicting the local labor market. This recognition serves several purposes: (1) provide labor with economic opportunities while retaining their ability to adjust to political climate by taking advantage of the global mobility of talent with favorable immigration policies; (2) increase Malaysia’s financial and human capital stock by leveraging its diasporas; and (3) alleviate friction in the migration process between Malaysia and host countries that will smooth travel between countries and increase economic transactions back to the country in the form of social and economic remittances. This paper examines this allowance and discusses the implications of a potential Malaysian dual-citizenship policy.

Diasporas can play a vital role in enhancing a country's international competitiveness. They can act as catalysts to enhance human capital development in their country of origin (COO), use their transnational social networks in both the COO and country of residence (COR) as conduits for trade and investment, introduce COO culture and products in the COR, enhance the COO's soft power and use their social networks to favourably affect the COO effect. In this paper, we examine the vital roles that modern diasporas play, as well as the issues that have led to their increasing importance. These issues are illustrated by looking at the experiences of two of the largest modern diasporas, the Chinese and Indian diasporas. The paper concludes by examining some of the emerging issues for diasporas in the fast changing current global environment, and discusses some of their implications for the diasporas themselves, their COOs and their CORs.

Currently a number of countries around the world grapple with the alleged issues of “brain drain” and “brain gain”. These twin areas are especially felt in smaller nations such as Australia. They are particularly the subject of analysis with respect to the academic profession, which seeks to recruit the next generation of academics in an increasingly global and competitive world. Academic migration itself is not a new issue being as old as the profession itself. What perhaps is novel is that in a mass system of higher education with a great diversity of institutional types migration and migration decisions are even less one-dimensional than perhaps they once, if ever, were. If ever academic migrants were motivated only by academic decisions in making their migration choices does this also apply to those who work in newer and less traditional universities. This study using life history methods examines academic migrants and their migration choices with reference to two new Australian universities. The data is related to the wider literature on recent migration studies and academic migration. Questions are posed and conclusions drawn for academic recruitment by universities facing the challenges posed by imminent large-scale retirement of academic staff.