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Brains migration, the other migration

by Cristóbal Mena

The search for new and better opportunities seems to be an intrinsic need in human beings, they have always looked for better living conditions physically and psychologically. As Abraham Maslow said, human needs are ordered by hierarchy which pyramid, from the base of the physiological to the tip of self-realization. Always on the rise, never on the decline. This impulse, therefore, is one of the main causes of the migration phenomenon, more current than ever in recent years where more than 272 million people, as a result of dictatorships, wars, poverty or simply boredom have left their homes and nations. in search of a better future.

In developing societies, as in the case of Chile, there is a particular type of emigration that can become a serious problem to achieve development. We are talking about the brain drain, the “brain drainage” that corresponds to the emigration to other countries of advanced human capital, the highly educated population, why does this happen and why is it harmful?

Let us give the case of science in Chile. Scientists are (we are) restless people, who study long and complex careers, based on research that is a process in principle without guaranteed results, but with a very high payment potential in its applicability in industries for the development of new products and processes. . Ask the Not Company, which created the Not Mayo, if not.

Unfortunately, Chile is famous in the OECD for being the country that invests the least in research and development: 0.4% of GDP. This is very little compared to Brazil (1.15%), the US (2.7%) or Israel (4.1%). A smaller budget translates into less funds for new research, a fight for existing ones, low salaries for scientists, among others. Worse, many of the research-critical scientific inputs take months to reach laboratories or are inexplicably detained in customs. Still, with everything against it, Chile is recognized for its quality scientific research.

To promote the formation of advanced human capital, the Chile Becas Program was created in 2008. But it has not been enough, and many of those who study abroad stay there to make their lives, mainly in Europe and the United States, working in private industry in pharmaceuticals, aerospace, processed foods, and mechanical industry and other disciplines that cannot. work at such a high level in Chile.

“Although there are no official figures, it is estimated that the unemployment rate among returned doctoral students exceeds 12%.”

– Cristóbal A. Mena

But … How to blame them? Although there are no official figures, it is estimated that the unemployment rate among returned doctoral students exceeds 12%. Many times a researcher must work full time as a teacher in addition to carrying out his lines of research, and under the current controversial agreement of Becas Chile, the beneficiary must compulsorily make up the amount invested in him by working for a period in Chile, or by paying in cash. This would not be a problem if there was a large supply of jobs. The system is not attractive, and teaching, where more than half of the scholarship recipients go, only seems to repeat the problem in a cycle.

On the other hand, the local private sector also invests very little in research. According to data from the Ministry of Economy, only one in ten companies reports carrying out R&D. This despite the fact that it is proven that the most successful companies with the best chances of survival are those that carry out internal research on new products and services.

From these two edges, the public and the private, two logical solutions for the brain drain emerge.

The first comes from the creation of a better legal and ministerial framework for science and research in Chile, with greater funds for research to allow scientists the possibility of dedicating full time to their work, improvements in things as simple as a special customs protocol for scientific supplies, make Becas Chile have a local labor insertion strategy for advanced human capital. Let’s hope that the new Ministry of Science and Technology will fulfill its role better than its predecessor, Conicyt, for scientists in Chile.

Regarding the private, national companies must assume that there is always an inherent risk in innovating, and invest more in research and development for their products, and thus create a virtuous circle in which more resources mean greater incentive to study scientific careers, generating more researchers and advanced human capital available, expanding the range of possibilities for everyone.

Much remains to be done to really establish research in the national culture.

– Cristóbal A. Mena

Today, although considerable progress has been made in the national innovation environment, especially thanks to the work of incubators and organizations that create competitive instances (CORFO, If-Conecta, UC Innovation Center, among others), much remains to be done to really establish research in the national culture. We aspire for the day to come when both sectors, public and private, really put up with the necessary capital to promote research and thus stop the brain drain, and that Chile becomes a pole of scientific and technological immigration, as was once the United States at the beginning of the last century, or within South America Brazil under Don Pedro II the “scientific emperor.”

It requires some will, laws, and investment. Chile is already a popular destination for immigration in Latin America, why not also make it attractive to researchers? Development is within our reach, just take the next step.

Posted on Biobio Chile 

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