Return Migration of Tertiary (Post)Graduates as a potential channel of the Brain-Gain Process in BiH

2011–2012

ERSTE Foundation Fellowship for Social Research Should we stay or should we go?

Migration and its effects on demographic and economic development in Central Eastern Europe

Return migration of tertiary (post) graduates As a potential channel of the brain gain process in Bosnia and Herzegovina Aleksandar Bozic

ERSTE FOUNDATION FELLOWSHIP FOR SOCIAL RESEARCH

A TWO WAY TICKET: RETURN MIGRATION OF TERTIARY (POST) GRADUATES AS A POTENTIAL CHANNEL OF THE BRAIN GAIN PROCESS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Aleksandar Bozic 2012

Abstract This study explores the impact of brain drain, brain gain and return migration in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The main focus is explaining characteristics of return migration as a potential channel of the brain gain process by focusing on the mobility of tertiary graduates, all of whom have decided to take their higher education abroad during the early professional career stage and who subsequently decide to return to BiH after gaining their qualifications.

Increasing the knowledge of patterns, size and outcomes of highly educated returnees and their impact on social, labour and country development has been analysed by both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Conclusions on the returnees’ qualification, values, recognition, their professional status and integration in domestic labour market, advanced knowledge and skills transfer, as well as the government and academic acceptations are given.

Key words: brain drain, return migration, brain gain, tertiary graduates, high skilled migration, human capital

List of Acronyms ACIPS ALE BiH BGP BiH ILO EU FBIH FHF GDP INGOs IOM MRDP MHRR NGOs OECD RS TOKTEN TRQN UK UNESCO UNDP USA WUS

Alumni of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Studies Agency for Labour and Employment Bosnia and Herzegovina Brain Gain Program Bosnia and Herzegovina International Labour Office European Union Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Friedrich Herbert Foundation Gross Domestic Product International Non-Governmental Organisations International Organisation for Migration The Ministry of Refugees and Displaced Persons The Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees Non-Governmental Organisations Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Republic of Srpska Transfer of Knowledge of Experts Transfer of Knowledge United Kingdom United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation United Nations Developing Program United Stated of America World University Service

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction...............................................................................................................................5 1.1 Brain Drain, Brain Gain and Brain Circulation Effects ...........................................................6 1.2 Case Study: Bosnia and Herzegovina Migration Profile........................................................8 1.3 Position of Bosnia and Herzegovina with Brain Drain/ Brain Gain Process .........................9 2. Methodology ..........................................................................................................................12 Research Aims ..........................................................................................................................12 2.1 Target Population ...............................................................................................................12 2.2 Research Objections ...........................................................................................................12 2.3 Methodological Approach .................................................................................................13 2.4 Quantitative Method .........................................................................................................14 2.5 Developing the Online Questionnaire ...............................................................................14 2.6 Sample Framework.............................................................................................................15 2.7 Qualitative Method ..........................................................................................................166 2.8 Sample Framework ............................................................................................................17 2.9 Data Gathering...................................................................................................................17 3. Findings..................................................................................................................................188 3. 1 Quantitative outcomes.......................................................................................................188 3.1.1 Profile of highly educated persons who decide to return to Bosnia and .....................188 Herzegovina after the completion of education ....................................................................188 3.1.2 Age of respondents.......................................................................................................188 3.1.3 Gender structure ...........................................................................................................188 3.1.4 Marital status.................................................................................................................198 3.1.5 Level of education ...........................................................................................................19 3.1.6 The choice of study programs.......................................................................................211 3.1.7 Recognition of Foreign Qualifications in the context of BiH.........................................232 3.1.8 The professional status of highly qualified professionals who decide to return to BiH upon completion of educational studies ................................................................................244 3.1.9 Evaluation of mobility, acquired knowledge and skills in the domestic labour market ................................................................................................................................................266 3.1.10 Motivational reasons in the context of emigrating/returning......................................29 3

3.1.11 The importance of networking in the process of knowledge of transfer and development ............................................................................................................................32 3.1.12 Brain gain in the context of scientific research...........................................................343 3. 2 Qualitative Outcomes ..................................................................................................365 3.2.1 Brain drain and BiH society............................................................................................375 3.2.2 Institutional mechanisms for the recognition of the brain gain process ......................386 3.2.3 Assessment of skills and qualifications for job market requirements ............................37 3.2.4 The attitude of public and NGO sector towards the brain gain.....................................39 4. Conclusion and recommendation .........................................................................................431 5. Bibliography...........................................................................................................................475

Appendix I The sample of online survey questionnaire

Appendix II The sample of semi structured interview questions

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1. Introduction

In a dynamic global society, international migration has become more clearly visible than ever before, especially today when the time and space compression (Hoogvelt, 2001; Cohen & Kennedy, 2007) has created the possibility of crossing national boundaries in a more convenient way and thus delivering opportunities to many people. At the same time, economic globalisation has opened a window of opportunity for human capital movement worldwide. The transformation of knowledge economies globally has increased demand for highly skilled human resources, which has been lacking in many labour markets during the past decade.

A growing request for the highly skilled and educated workforce has created an increasing mobility of student’s population, which represent a form of highly skilled individuals.

It has naturally resulted in the development of a specific migration channel, whereby individuals enter a country to study and are subsequently recruited to work there, either temporarily or permanently.

Student and recent graduated population may present a vital resource as human capital, and according to a macro-level theory of international migration flows (Massey et al., 2006: 433), this process creates movement of human capital where ‘high skilled workers moving from capital rich to capital poor countries in order to reap high returns on their skills in a human capital-scare environment’. In actual fact, the flight of human capital to other nations is a phenomenon that has been of concern to academics and development practitioners for decades, and more commonly referred to as "brain drain" process. (Ozden & Schiff, 2006; Massey et al., 2003; Kosher, 2007; Perrons, 2004; Martin et al., 2007; Ean-Khoo et al., 2007). It is traditionally viewed as the movement of highly educated and skilled individuals—sometimes referred to as knowledge workers—from their home countries to countries that offer them greater opportunities in aspects of professionalism and living. Additionally, another prevalent form of brain drain can be attached to a student's failure to return to their native countries after going abroad to study, with the statement made that ‘those who leave are at times among the most entrepreneurial, best educated, and brightest in the society’ (Kosher, 2007: 51).

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Docquier & Rapoport, (2004) explain that, since 1980, the concept has been grown as a natural tendency by selective immigration programmes in many OECD countries—especially with countries such as Canada and Australia—through a means of attracting the highly educated and skilled immigrants. Today, it has been a dominated programme in the immigration policies of many developed countries. Human capital flight is probably most pronouncedly attached for developing nations. Namely, it is under the impression that, in such countries, higher education and professional certification are often observed as the surest path to escape from a troubled economy or difficult political situation. In actual fact, there are various push and pull factors that can be presented as the main driving intentions to emigration (Lee, 1996). Consequently, sending countries may face the problem of serious brain loss of most of their educated and skilled citizens, which can result negatively in terms of its economic, social, educational and demographic aspects, while at the same time it has been noticed that the loss conversely could also have some positive effects in terms of inflows of remittances and potential investment opportunities.

1.1 Brain Drain, Brain Gain and Brain Circulation Effects

In Central and Eastern Europe, a real wave of migration of student population started at the beginning of the transition period with the opening up of national borders and science in post-socialist countries (Bobeva, 1997). However, after these countries obtained economic and social stability, a predominant flow of highly educated persons during the 1990s has now been replaced by intensive exchange process. Moreover, a growing internationalisation of the education system is currently taking place across the globe, which promotes knowledge and skills exchange, allowing sending and receiving countries to benefit from academic mobility.

Markedly, there has been recognition that the highly skilled migration of the graduate population is not necessarily forever, and that people often return or move back and forth between different destinations. This has been termed as ‘brain circulation’ (Saxenian, 2002), which has changed the strongly accepted concept of permanently emigration of most skilled and brightest, replacing it with a regular level of ‘temporary migration’.

The economic impacts of student population mobility on receiving countries can be seen in several different ways. International students can significantly contribute to the country’s economy, through their expenditures on tuition and living expenses. For instance, foreign students’ expenditure on accommodation, food, tuition and fees was estimated to be more than $21 billion in the United States for 2011, making US higher education the fifth larger service 6

export (Institute of International Education, 2011). Additionally, non-returnees present an important source of host country productivity, whilst the most qualified are generally more easily integrated into a new labour market owing to a higher level of education and the greater ability to adjust.

On the other hand, sending countries can also benefit from tertiary migration abroad. In some of the fast-growth economic countries, such as India and China, student mobility is ‘increasingly treated as a resource to be networked for knowledge exchange and entrepreneurial partnering in service to national economic development’ (Tremblay, 2005: 26). Furthermore, gained knowledge and skills in a more advanced society can significantly increase home country average productivity and contribute to economic growth upon returning (Kim, 1998). Besides a generally adopted opinion that those who stay abroad are considered to be brain loss for the home country, it is also possible to see some benefits with this movement: for example, they can contribute in the way that obtaining higher incomes abroad may significantly increase to higher remittances, or to otherwise sustain homeland industry through investments by taking advantage of low labour costs and technological expertise in their home country.

Although the risk of non-returnable is a reality, analyses of migration patterns recognise the return migration as a central issue in the field of international mobility. Moreover, there is some evidence that shows that approximately 30% of all migrants return to their home country within two decades, with many going abroad as a way of enhancing their skills (Mayer & Peri, 2009). In favour of this explanation, a possible example can be seen in the case of the mobility of tertiary graduates, all of whom have decide to take higher education abroad during the early professional career stage and who subsequently decide to return home after gaining their degrees and qualifications. As Mayer & Peri (2009:2) claim, ‘the return of these migrants is planned and motivated by the skill enhancement they receive abroad’. With this in mind, it seems that returning to country of origin partly depends on personal awareness and the ability to easily transfer gained knowledge and qualifications at home, as well as to maintain the level of professional, social and family networks and ties attached to the homeland.

Researchers agree that the returning process can have both positive and negative effects for emigrating students; this generates expectations that the best qualified return migrants— particularly in less-developed countries—will be positively associated with a perspective position in the domestic labour market. Some research on brain gain explains that education from abroad has varying effects on vertical career dimensions. Accordingly, it is stated that, ‘those who obtained degrees in foreign countries, are more frequently hold jobs with international work 7

assignments at home, than those who were non-mobile during their education (Wiers-Jenssen, 2008). In actual fact, gained skills and advanced knowledge at international universities of excellence would induce good job and career prospects upon return; however, societies that challenge serious human capital flow and have no marketable skilled employees or lack competition in the labour market can cause the quality of returnee qualifications and knowledge to be negatively evaluated, which has been assigned the term ‘brain waste’. In this regard, returning students may come to realise that they have obtained the ‘wrong’ qualification for the needs of the domestic labour market owing to the inability to get jobs that match their educational levels. Since the returnee’s skills are not being adequately recognised, it may produce a situation where they receive a lower professional position or are paid less than their full value, subsequently having to deal with no professional development opportunities, and would most likely leading to further emigration.

1.2 Case Study: Bosnia and Herzegovina Migration Profile

In terms of migration, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has been constantly faced with dynamic changes throughout its history. In recent past the most significant period of social transformation happened during the 1960’s and the 1990’s. After the Second World War, the Bosnian population was the part of a great movement of Yugoslavian society towards some Western Europe countries, such as Germany and Austria, which was generally regulated by bilateral agreement between Yugoslavia and these countries. ‘The large-scale, mainly low-skilled immigration of the 1950’s and 1960’s was a crucial component of post war economic reconstruction in western Europe’ (Boswell, 2005: 5). Even though it was a formal one year renewable guest worker program, most of them had stayed in these countries until the end of their working life.

During the 1990’s, Bosnia and Herzegovina had faced with national conflict that had caused a new flows of migrants, but this time it was a part of forced migration. According to the report of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP, 2003) during the five year of a civil war, more than a million people in BiH were displaced internally as well as internationally. In fact, the organization estimates that by the end of the war, 1.2 million Bosnian refugees had sought refuge in other countries. The population of BiH dwindled from 4.4 million inhabitants in 1989 to unofficially 3.8 million in 2004, since the population census has not been operated for

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the last 20 years. Unofficial estimate is that almost 30 % of emigrants who left the country at that period of time were tertiary educated persons (Stites, Lautze and Anic, 2005).

Statistical data released by the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees BiH (2009) show that 1,350,000 citizens of BiH are currently living abroad, which presents 26% of BiH population. It is estimated that more than 850,000 are living in other parts of Europe (such as, Italy, Croatia, Germany, Austria Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Serbia, Switzerland), nearly half a million in the US and Canada and 50.000 in Australia. Bosnia is the sixth among the 20 leading remittance-receiving countries in the world (Ministry of Security, 2009) and it is second within the South Eastern Europe. Remittances played a major role in sustaining the citizens of BIH during the conflict time and post war period.

1.3 Position of Bosnia and Herzegovina with Brain Drain/ Brain Gain Process Positive progress has been made by BiH in macroeconomic stabilization and structural reforms, but the labour market is still challenged by a low rate of job creation. More than a half million people in Bosnia looking for work and the unemployment rate in the country now stands at 43.2% Unemployment of youth aged 19-24 is greater than 58,5% and nearly for times higher than in EU countries (Commission for coordination of Youth Issues BiH, 2007). Youth jobless is marked with a long-term unemployment which results with depreciation and loss of knowledge and skills, the lack of work experience and increase of informal economy.

According to

statistics of Labour and Employment Agency of BiH (2011) persons with higher education make 4.83% (24,153) in the overall registered unemployment figure. Research conducted in 2010 by the Student Union BiH shows that two thirds of students enrolled at University in order to be hired abroad after they graduate.

Lack of work, linked together with bad economic and socio-political situation in the country, accompanied by the corruption, poor health care, inadequate social protection system and undeveloped education systems with inadequate allocation for the science and research are the main reasons why many young highly educated and skilled Bosnians want to leave the country. As Fischer (2006; 234) attempts to explore closely of Bosnian aspect about this topic, she concludes that a trend of migration of qualified young people to foreign countries is being Bosnian reality for many years, so as the result, there is the brain drain “and loss of the most vital resources for social development.’ A micro theory of international migration (Massey, 2006) also 9

explain that people made decision to move where they could be most productive, but before they go, it is necessary to obtain important investments, such as high educational skills, experiences, knowledge of a new language, material costs of travelling as well as psychological costs of adaptation.

Even though the international borders were closed for freely movement of Bosnian citizens until 2010, it seems that these borders had been opened to specific group of mainly young people, with certain education and training background, so the need for these skills provide them an opportunity to cross very strict visa measures and legally entrance into field of foreign labour market. Bosnia and Herzegovina is ranked second in Europe with the migration rate of 28.6% of the departure of highly educated people (The World Bank, 2007). Owing to from serious lack of useful, disaggregated migration statistical capacity, the only official data that coverage the brain drain topic in BiH was made by UNESCO’s survey (Uvalic, 2005) which outcomes show that even 79% of researchers in the field of engineering, 81% masters and 75% doctors of science have left BiH since 1995. According to the survey, there are hundred of professors, researchers and experts from BiH working either at the European, American or Australian universities as well as in the world's leading companies. As result, the domestic labour market suffers from the serious lack of skilled and advanced qualifications of workers which produce the country’s productivity at a very lower level. The loss such important human capital has negative impact on the country’s economy and social development.

As it has been mentioned, emigration of highly skilled workforce can be beneficial for the host country as for the home country. Based on the assumption that Diaspora can contribute to the country development, it has been recognised that attempts were made by The Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees BiH (MHRR BIH) and its Department for Expatriates to improve cooperation with Diaspora and with all those highly educated persons which have recently left the country. In a recent survey of ACIPS (Nikolic at al., 2010) it is concluded that ‘main obstacle is not the level of interest in the Diaspora to contribute to developing home countries, but within BiH itself, which is currently under-exploiting the existing potential’. There is currently no legal framework governing the functioning of the state towards the Diaspora. Current strategic programs and actions in terms of returning migration has been largely funded and implemented by international and nongovernmental organisations. International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for instance implemented a program of “Return of qualified experts” and during the period 1996 to 2002 had returned 862 skilled returnees to BiH, while the aim of the “Brain Gain 10

Plus” which was implemented by World University Service (WUS) attempted to improve the higher education sector through guest lectures of academic staff, who are originally from BiH but living and working in some other countries.(Pozzi, 2011) However, since these returning projects have been mainly created and implemented by the INGOs and NGOs and to a lesser extent by institutions in BiH, it is ultimately reflected in the reduced number of initiatives, their lack of sustainability and inconsistencies.

At the same, there are significant financial assets of foreign governments such as selective and competitive scholarship programs that represent a kind of international assistance to BiH, in order to improve the country’s development and strengthen the marketable skills and knowledge. This allow highly educated people from BiH to attend postgraduate studies abroad to obtain new knowledge, with the intention of contributing to Bosnia’s productivity growth after the scholars return. However, lack of records and adequate database make it difficult to understand the process of returning highly educated persons, especially in terms of acquired skills, core competences, as well as their involvement in the labour market and their recognition as important human capital and development potential.

Due to a lack of social research activities, the general gap of evaluation activities with a view to assessing the effectiveness and support the process of the return of highly educated persons to BiH, particularly those who have experienced temporary migration for the purpose of studying abroad and upon completion of their advanced tertiary degrees have returned home, this study will provide a contribution to understand this type of migration issue.

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2. Methodology

Research Aims

Owing to lack of serious methodological observations and evaluations concerning brain gain and the return process in the context of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is necessary to provide a greater understanding of real outcomes which may have resulted. Accordingly, a research aim is concerned with explaining characteristics, opportunities and obstacles of return migration as a channel of the brain gain process in Bosnia and Herzegovina by increasing the knowledge of patterns, size and outcomes of highly educated returnees in terms of social, labour and country development.

2.1 Target Population Individuals from Bosnia and Herzegovina who have experienced temporary migration so as to facilitate studying abroad and, upon completion of their advanced tertiary degrees, have returned home.

2.2 Research Objections

•

To analyse theoretical explanations, key aspects, and patterns of migration processes, such as brain gain, brain circulation and students mobility.

•

To identify the profile of young returnees, directing emphasis on their professional, educational, social and cultural characteristics, as well as gender.

•

To evaluate push and pull factors related to returnees’ intentions, and their motivations for leaving and returning.

•

To define the process of recognition of qualifications obtained abroad within the BiH system.

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•

To analyse the professional status of returnees, evaluation of obtained knowledge and skills, as well as qualification values in the domestic labour market, as well as career and job opportunities.

•

To assess the impacts of the return process of highly educated individuals on social development, human capital accumulation, and productivity in BiH.

•

To demonstrate awareness and significance of the obtained migration networks in provision of knowledge transfer, investment activities and technology improvement.

•

To evaluate existing policies, strategies and government initiatives in the prevention of brain drain and the promotion of the brain gain migration processes.

•

To evaluate opinions and attitudes of representatives from governmental and nongovernmental organisations in connection with the identified migration processes.

2.3 Methodological Approach

According to all incorporated stages of this research, this study includes the principle of a qualitative research approach, which helps to define the agenda issues in a much deeper sense. A reason in favour of qualitative approach could be seen in its contribution to ‘better understanding of social realities and to draw attention to processes, meaning patterns and structural features’ (Flick, Kardorff & Steink, 2004:3). In order to reap a more deeply rounded understanding of an unsearched specific migration pattern, such as the returning process and the brain gain in the geographical context in which it occurs, the mixed research method has been selected.

Markedly, when qualitative and quantitative methods are combined as part of the triangulation process, it can be expected that a better overall picture will emerge through increasing the overall integrity of findings and accordingly introducing a more comprehensive account of the researched area. In the words of Bryman, ‘quantitative research provides an account of structures in social life but qualitative research provides sense of process’ (2008: 609). Furthermore, the quantitative method has been previously used in this context of data collection from targeted population through an online survey, whilst the qualitative aspect has been employed to develop an online questionnaire so that more comprehensive, closed answers can be generated. However, since it is also considered to be important that points of view are obtained from stakeholders for the researched subject, a qualitative data collection method has also been utilised.

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Above all, it should also be noted that the case study has an important part in the research process as, according to the research questions and setting, the generated answers and evidence are linked to the exploration of the situation taking place in Bosnia and Herzegovina in general.

2.4 Quantitative Method

Although a web-based survey has been widely used in social science over the last decade owing to the fact that it offers significant advantages over more traditional survey techniques (Solomon, 2001; Sue & Ritter, 2012), it has been a relatively unknown approach amongst social researchers in the country, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina. This has subsequently affected the researcher in terms of inducing a stronger motivation to challenge this methodology.

During the past several years, there has been expediential growth of the acceptable broadband internet all over Bosnia and Herzegovina. As result of this, there are a considerable number of people that have affordable and easy access to online content. At the same time, the targeted population belongs to a specific group of highly educated individuals to whom internet access is viewed as something usual and normal, since the internet and computers have been utilised widely during studies abroad. Considering the targeted group in this case, coverage bias is likely to be less of a concern regarding a chosen online survey methodology (Solomon, 2001).

In fact, when the chosen general population meets the requirements of the online survey, such as this one, it is then most likely that online surveys appear to have a response rate approximately comparable to mail surveys, according to a large-scale study of Michigan State University students (Kaplowitz et al., 2004).

2.5 Developing the Online Questionnaire

Regarding instrument development, there has been serious consideration to several factors so as to ensure that the requirements of the internet-based survey methodology are met in its entirety; therefore, a considerable amount of time was spent developing the online questionnaire design, which should be easy to comprehend by focusing on several aspects, such as question formats and type of response options, colour, font type, navigational guides, etc. For this purpose, a purchased online survey programme, known as ‘Survey Monkey’, was utilised, 14

which helped to create an easy-to-read and attractive questionnaire in order to limit biases and increase response rates. The created questionnaire comprised 32 questions, and was structured as a set of close-ended questions on several broad question groups. It included sections on demographic information, educational background, job search, labour market position, careerrelated questions, as well as motivational factors and return intentions. Particular attention was assigned to time planning management regarding distributing the online questionnaires to potential respondents.

The invitation for participation was send during the afternoon when respondents were considered most likely to have a less busy schedule if they are at work. Alternatively, such invitations were sometimes forwarded during the late afternoon, evening and weekends when respondents were most likely to be reading mail at home. Since the invitations had been sent through Survey Monkey, it was possible to track who responded to the survey. Only 25 questionnaires were sent by post. Overall, no more than 9 minutes were required of the respondents’ time to fill in the questionnaire.

During the survey process, reminder emails were sent twice with proper timing to those who had not responded. Furthermore, the data collection process included formatting and entering responses directly into a database of the purchased software for analysis, which was subsequently transferred to the SPSS program. In an attempt to describe the collected data, there have been used following statistical methods: •

Frequency and percentage analyses

•

Descriptive statistics techniques (mean, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis)

2.6 Sample Framework

One of the biggest challenges was to identify potential participants since the general prevailing opinion is that highly educated individuals leave the country in large countries, and that it is difficult to find those who decided to complete education abroad to return to BiH. The decision to focus on this group was partly influenced by the fact that there is a serious lack of research and studies on the brain gain in the Bosnian context. Since the pattern—or even the size—of highly educated returnees in BiH is largely unknown, it has been impossible to identify a proper size of the target population, generally owing to the absence of official database of returnees. In order to overcome this issue, it had been decided that various public institutions, 15

foreign embassies and alumni organisations would be contacted in an attempt to help us to reach Bosnians with temporary migration experiences of taking education abroad.

An informative letter with a brief explanation of the research objections and final outcomes was sent to several identified organisations, following with an official letter from the ERSTE Foundation explaining the fellowship concept and asking that the researcher be supported in his study process and field work. As result, a total of 19 different institutions and organisations responded to the enquiry by forwarding the email addresses of individuals who were either studying abroad or were registered as former scholars for various scholarship programmes. These data were gathered from eight embassies, two international organisations, six public institutions and universities, and three alumni organisations. The participants from the list were contacted via email by posting a covering letter with the research intentions, inviting them to participate in a survey and distributing the link of the online questionnaire. At the same time, during the initial search process, such entities were asked to distribute the cover email letter to their friends and acquaintances who met the survey criteria. Therefore, the way in which the participants were selected emphasises the principles of the snowball sampling.

The online survey began at the beginning of May 2011 and ended at the end of June 2011. The combination of internet search and snowball (referral) sampling resulted in a total of 148 responses from highly educated Bosnians, all of whom returned home following the experience of a temporary migration for education purposes.

The standard respondent is a relatively young, around the age of 30, single, university graduates, most likely with a postgraduate-level diploma in social science, lived abroad for more than one year and studied at a prestigious university in the USA or UK.

2.7 Qualitative Method

Besides the collection of empirical data, it was also important to include the opinions of representatives from governmental, non-governmental and international organisations in order to explore the researched subject in a wider sense. Having sent invitations to ten persons for participation in the study, a group of seven representatives accepted involvement in the qualitative aspect of the research. Three governmental participants held authoritarian positions at state level (Ministry of Education and Culture RS; Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees BiH, and Agency for Labour and Employment BiH), two participants were from international 16

organisations (International Organisation for Migration and United Nations Developing Programme), and two respondents from a non-governmental sector based in BiH (WUS Austria and Fridrich Herbert Foundation).

2.8 Sample Framework

When considering the way in which the participants were selected, it can be said that purposive sampling was chosen for this part of the research. So as to ensure that those sampled were considered relevant to the research questions, the focus was on the identification of typical characteristics amongst involved respondents. In this regard, representative characteristics can be seen in the fact they all come from organisations that have been respectfully recognised in the society for dealing with the migration processes, and similarly have a responsible position within their organisations, with their work directly addressed to migration, education, social and economic development issues in the Bosnian context.

2.9 Data Gathering

Regarding collecting qualitative data, semi-structured in-depth interviews were used as a research technique. The recorded interviews were conducted with two representatives from the Ministry of Education and INGO, Fridrich Herbert Stiftung, which had advantages in terms of evaluating and analysing the observed research problem in a much wider sense. However, owing to respondents’ responsible and busy positions, there appeared to be complications in arranging an available time and date for the interviews with each of the other five. In order to overcome this issue, another method was selected.

Accordingly, a structured questionnaire based on the questions and themes obtained from the two conducted interviews was formulated and distributed to participants. The data were collected through open-ended questions, with the essay/comment responses from the five identified respondents from the organisations stated above. The advantages of this method can be seen in the fact that participants had more time to think about the questions posed, to check the 17

provided information, and did not have to be concerned that they would be interrupted during filling in the questionnaire. The disadvantages, on the other hand, included having no opportunity of direct communication with respondents, which might have been valuable in terms of asking additional questions. Qualitative data gathering were operated during October and November 2011.

3. FINDINGS

3. 1 Quantitative outcomes The following section is an analysis of empirical findings gained through the online survey that were undertaken during the research project.

3.1.1 Profile of highly educated persons who decide to return to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the completion of education In order to identify the profile of highly educated persons who decide to return to Bosnia after their temporary migration for the purpose of education, the analysis of socio-demographic respondents structure, with an emphasis on their professional, educational, gender, social and cultural characteristics was carried out.

3.1.2 Age of respondents In the review of data pertaining to the age of respondents, we can see that the respondents participated in the survey range from 24 to 55. The largest number of respondents were aged 30 to 35 (62.60%), followed by the 36 to 40 age group (20.30%) and from the age group 24 to 29 (17.07%). The remaining respondents (1.02%) belong to the age group from 41 to 55.

3.1.3 Gender structure

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Looking at the gender structures of the respondents in the study showed 65 were male (43.9%) and 84 female (56.8%).

3.1.4 Marital status Summarizing the data on marital status, it was observed that half of the respondents 50.3% were not married, while 42.2% of respondents are married. Interestingly, the crossing of analyzing the variables of gender and marital status it can be noticed that half of male respondents are married (52.4%), unlike the female population, of which nearly half belong to the category of unmarried women (57.1%). Apparently it's the current global trend in which young women with increasing levels of education aspire towards greater self-realization at the professional level, training and career development, while the process of marriage is temporarily postponed.

3.1.5 Level of education In terms of the education level that respondents have, the data show that in the study the largest number of respondents had completed postgraduate studies, more than half of respondents

(57.5%)

had

master’s

degree,

doctorate

(20.5%)

and

postdoctoral

degree (3.4%). The survey also included respondents who had only completed graduate studies (19.2%) and a smaller number had a degree in specialized studies (6.2%).

Chart 1 : Respondents and education level

Data analysis showed that highly educated respondents with experience of temporary migration for the purpose of education, graduate studies usually began and completed in Bosnia 19

and Herzegovina (53.5% started, completed 65.3%), while when it comes to postgraduate studies, usually beginning and complete abroad (89% completed). The reasons can be found in the fact that post-graduate study in BiH, primarily referring to the second cycle of studies, are still not consistent in all study programs with the ongoing Bologna process of higher education.

Concurrently, foreign governments and universities, through scholarship programs, offer the possibility, for a longer period of time, to further study, through mobility implementation and temporary migration. These are usually scholarships for attending post-graduate studies outside BiH, allowing highly educated people sharing knowledge and acquiring new competencies based on contemporary methods, technical equipment and access to sources of current knowledge and information.

Assessing the information pertaining to the selection of countries for temporary migration for education and training (Figure 1) the dominant presence are of those with experience of studying in the United States (39.4%) and the United Kingdom (31.5%). These are English speaking countries, whose language is most often included in the school system in BiH as a regular foreign language, and observing in this context, it is quite (a) justified interest of students for further studies in these countries. Meanwhile, the U.S. government and the United Kingdom through their established competitive and selective scholarship programs, which have operated for more than a decade, allow highly educated people from BiH to attend postgraduate studies to acquire new knowledge, with the intention of contributing to their country’s productivity growth after the scholars return. Ranking the representation of another state’s where the respondents obtained their qualifications, studied 10.2% in Germany, in Italy (8.5%), Austria (5.5%), Czech (Republic) (4.7%), Turkey (2.8%), Spain (2.7%), Belgium (2.7%), Greece (1.3%) Russia (1.3%). The analysis also showed that a small number of individuals have multiple mobility experience for the purpose of their education, and so began and completed their master's studies in one country, while for doctoral studies went to another country. Out of the countries in the region, Serbia stands out, where studies were continued by 17% of highly qualified respondents, Slovenia (8.6%) and Croatia (7.1%). A high percentage representation of the countries in the region compared to other countries should be viewed in terms of geographic proximity, lower financing costs and language barriers, as well as that on the basis of previously established cooperation with universities in BiH the process of recognition of gained diplomas and qualifications is also facilitated.

Chart 2: A list of countries of completed higher degrees abroad

20

3.1.6 The choice of study programs When it comes to the field of scientific studies that highly educated people chose (Figure 2), often they chose to study programs in the field of social, specifically the economic, legal and political sciences. Out of 148 participating respondents, 69.6 % acquired qualifications from social science disciplines. There are far less of those who after graduation returned to Bosnia, and who continued to study within other scientific disciplines. Degrees in technical science outside BiH were acquired by 10.8% of people, from the humanities and sports sciences (8.8%), agricultural sciences (4.7%), arts (3.4%), while the medical and natural sciences 1.7% each.

Chart 3: Types of scientific fields of completed degrees abroad

21

The explanation for this expected difference lies in the fact that for a longer period there is a negative trend in enrolment policies at universities in BiH, but also a significant decline in student interest in technical and natural sciences, while also having knowledge of these scientific fields allow for easier and often more permanent emigration to the countries that attract highly qualified people with encouraging factors such as income, employment and professional development. On the other hand, because the post-conflict and transitional BiH needed socioeconomic and political development, diplomas and qualifications in the social, political or legal sectors over the last fifteen years have been favoured and in the demand in the domestic labour market, primarily in the public or NGO / international sector.

The selection of scientific area is certainly influenced by the different types of scholarships offered to citizens of the higher education institutions abroad. More than half of respondents (60%) stated that the costs of education or vocational training abroad were covered by government scholarships of the country in which they resided, namely the scholarship of higher education institutions where they studied (21.7%). It is evident that these scholarships are very often focused mainly on post-graduate studies in social, legal, or political science. These are significant financial assets that represent a kind of international assistance to BiH in order to strengthen the professional staff in the country. This statement is confirmed by the example of Great Britain, which during the last ten years through the government's Chevening Scholarship program has invested more than ÂŁ 4 million and provided that more than 80 citizens of BiH the opportunity to study at universities across the UK and thereby strengthen the BiH with the new human capital and leadership in many important scientific fields.

At the same time, it is important to mention that at the entity level, ministries of Education and Science, are also directing a portion of their budgets on scholarship programs for BiH students studying abroad in the study of the first, second and third cycle. Out of the total number of respondents, 12.3% of them confirmed that they used scholarship programs of the relevant ministries of the BiH Federation Government and the RS Government. However, through established contacts with the relevant ministries it was asserted that there are no specific data on monitoring the return of highly educated persons into BiH at the conclusion of the studies. The lack of records, adequate databases and expert analysis on the number of highly qualified returnees, acquired skills, expertise and core competencies, as well as their involvement in the labour market and employment, speaks clearly about the fact that the issue of recognition of human capital and development potential of this population is not high on the priority list of the 22 Â Â

entity ministries, nor is the importance of the brain gain concept in the sphere of public policy sufficiently recognized.

Hence on the basis of the above-analyzed data, it can be concluded that the modular profile of highly educated returnees in BiH with the experience of temporary migration for the purpose of education, are people aged between 30 and 35 years of age, who have completed postgraduate studies in the field of social sciences in the English-speaking countries, supported by grants of foreign governments and universities.

3.1.7 Recognition of Foreign Qualifications in the context of BiH Through the reform of higher education in Europe, known as the Bologna process, creating a comparative system easily understandable with comparable titles, the concept of European Credit Transfer System was promoted. Such a standardized system of transmission of acquired academic knowledge enables easier mobility and flow of knowledge at the European level along with the facilitated process of national and international recognition of diplomas and qualifications.

Recognition is the process by which the competent authority evaluates the educational qualifications of other countries in the context of the eligibility of the qualifications holder of the national programs of education and employment (Kovacevic and Petrovic, 2004, p.9). Earlier analysis conducted by the Association of former Chevening scholars in BiH (2008) regarding the existing system of recognition of diplomas in BiH, found considerable difficulty in the recognition of diplomas obtained abroad. Namely, in January 2004 BiH ratified the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European region, the so-called Lisbon Convention of 1997, which introduced among the consigning States a new system of qualifications recognition. The law on Higher Education has been in force since August 2007. The above mentioned Act provides that the recognition of diplomas acquired outside Bosnia is decided by the relevant Entity Ministries when it comes to employment and other professional purposes (Ministry of Education of the Republic of Srpska, cantonal ministries of education in the BiH Federation and the Education Department of Brcko District of BiH), and higher education institutions do it when it comes to continuing education, and all of that on the recommendation of the Centre for Information and Recognition of documents in Higher Education-an institution that operates independently on the state level and does not perform 23

recognition of diplomas, but only provides information where interested parties can do it.

Given that the vast authority was given to the ministries at the entity level, research conducted by a group of authors from the organization called ACIPS BiH (Nikolic et al., 2010) it was concluded that individual universities and the governments of the cantons perform recognition pursuant to acts on their level and that a large number of cantons still stick to the traditional system of recognition of diplomas. It seems that in the Republic of Srpska the recognition system operates somewhat coherent, considering that according to the Law on Higher Education of RS a Commission was established at the Ministry of Education and Culture of RS, which carries out the recognition of diplomas. This is a so-called formal recognition, considering that many highly educated professionals previously faced with the fact that their diplomas where not recognised and were refused because in the nomenclature of occupations in BiH, there was no similar position.

To determine what is the experience of highly qualified professionals with the recognition process of the higher education positions after returning to BiH, respondents were asked if they could validate the diploma obtained abroad. There were an almost equal number of those who failed in this process (48.5%) in comparison to those who have validated acquired knowledge (44.6%), while a smaller number of respondents (6.9%) are still in the process of having their diploma recognised. Evaluating the satisfaction of the respondents regarding the way the recognition of foreign academic qualifications in BiH is organized, only 17,2 % of respondents are satisfied with the above process, while more than half of respondents expressed clear dissatisfaction concerning the recognition of diplomas (29.1% dissatisfied, very dissatisfied, 24, 6%).

In the context of the obtained data, established presence of disharmonized, fragmented and partial system for recognition of foreign diplomas in BiH has been pointed out already. The new system of recognition of foreign diplomas in accordance with the existing legal framework, European law and international obligations, came to life in a very small extent, and only partially.

3.1.8 The professional status of highly qualified professionals who decide to return to BiH upon completion of educational studies

24

In societies that are based on knowledge, with respect to the economy, the imperative is given to the qualified labour force as an engine of economic progress. Increasing economic competitiveness requires more effective use of human resources. Emphasis is placed on promoting human resources development for the workforce as a whole. The labour market in BiH is characterized by high unemployment, low activity rates and the mismatch of offer and demand for labour, with corruption and nepotism present in the employment field. All of which adds further to the decline in the quality of human capital. The question is whether people with skills and knowledge gained in foreign higher education institutions can be regarded as an important human capital in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Specifically, human capital is the stock of competencies, knowledge and personality attributes embodied in the ability to perform labour so as to produce economic value. Human capital of a society consists of the knowledge, skills and attitudes of the workforce of the country. Studies between developed and developing economies have confirmed the persistence of direct correlation between high-quality skills improvement and productivity contribution. It has been noticed that countries which hold potential to increase relevant high-quality skills and knowledge as result show a significantly higher productivity and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (ILO, 2008).

It is undisputed that highly qualified professionals with experience of education outside the country of origin represent a significant potential of each country for high quality, innovation and development of market competitiveness. As perspective professionals who transmit the acquired knowledge can contribute to better development of public and private sectors, it is expected that they would be enabled easier inclusion into the labour market, and hence employment. In fact, the results obtained on the basis of estimates on employment respondents involved speak in favour of the above assumptions. After returning from abroad to Bosnia and Herzegovina, 81% of the respondents were employed, while 19% remain unemployed. It is interesting that half of respondents (54.7%) who returned to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on average, spent one to three months to find a job, while those who had returned to the Republic of Srpska (56.3%) had to dedicate a longer period of time to find a job, that is four to twelve months or in some cases longer than twelve months.

Based on analysis of the years of returns of the respondents, it can be estimated that the largest number of returnees who belong to a group of unemployed actually returned to the country during the period between the 2007 and 2011. This is the period that was marked by the global economic crisis, whose consequences directly reflected the labour market of Bosnia and 25 Â Â

Herzegovina with greatly increased unemployment, reduced exports and growth of rates.

When it comes to the sector in which highly qualified returnees get employed (Figure 3.), most of the work engagements are in the public sector (50.9%), the private sector (28.1%), in the international sector-international organizations / embassies / consulates (14.0 %) and the NGO sector (11.4%).

Chart 4: Returnees employment and labour sector

Half of the total number of respondents (51.3%) found jobs on the basis of a vacancy announcement, and this applies to those who were hired in the public and the international sector. A smaller number used informal channels to find a job (31.9%), or with the help of friends, colleagues and alumni network, and these are primarily those respondents who were employed in the private and NGO sector. Through direct contact with the organization and by sending their CV 19.5% respondents got employed. Out of the total number of respondents, only 6.2% started an independent business. Such a modest number of those who wish to start private entrepreneurship upon return, is probably associated with inadequate support for the promotion and development of small and medium enterprises by the state, while adverse socio-political and economic situation in the country furthermore complicates

decision making regarding the

commencement of the independent business.

3.1.9 Evaluation of mobility, acquired knowledge and skills in the domestic labour market

The results presented in the previous section, which relate to the assessment of occupational status of highly educated returnees, are partially in accordance with the classical 26

theory of human capital (Becker, 1964), which assumes a positive relationship between education levels and productivity. Because of the demands for high productivity, it is assumed that those with the best and highest education are to be most successful in the labour market.

By using the comparative study within the so-called REFLEX study (Allen & Van der Velden, 2007) which was conducted in 13 EU countries, benefits of diplomas obtained from universities, focusing on the period of six years after graduation were analysed. The obtained results showed that those who were mobile during the study, and educated abroad, on average, have 10% higher incomes and are considered far less overqualified by employers in comparison with those who did not have such experiences. Also, a survey that was conducted among employers in Europe (Bracht et al., 2006) found that graduates with experience of mobility, or stay and study at higher education institutions outside their country of origin, were considered far more competent, not only in terms of knowledge of foreign language and professional skills, but also in relation to acquired skills such as adaptability, initiative, and problem-solving skills. Interestingly, the study by Wiers-Jenssen (2008) whose results have confirmed that people who have gained qualifications abroad, are often finding jobs for foreign employers doing business in the domestic labour market and have more advantages in terms of application of the required "of international "skills, rather than those who do not possess the above-mentioned experiences. There is no doubt that these are perspective professionals with valuable skills and knowledge, which may facilitate them easier and more successful professional implementation and integration into the labour market.

On the other hand, it happens in practice that the experience and knowledge of highly qualified professionals sometimes fails to be fully applied upon their return. Often, it is in fact the advanced knowledge that could be easily applied in the country in which they temporarily migrated for the purpose of education, given that the domestic labour market does not recognize the quality of human resources that these people possess. The fact is that in addition to the fragmented and inefficient labour market in BiH, the economic growth of the country can hardly follow even its own production of highly qualified personnel, which may result to produce the so-called "Brain waste," or "a waste of resources", represented by highly qualified professionals through their involvement in lower-ranking, but a better-paid jobs "(Nikolic et al., 2010).

In order to assess the experience and attitudes of respondents regarding the evaluation and recognition of acquired qualifications and capabilities outside of BiH in the domestic labour 27 Â Â

market, data analysis was carried out with emphasis on professional development, career development and recognition of qualifications by employers.

Among the attitudes to which the respondents determined the degree of agreement on the grounds of the statement That good opportunities are being provided for professional development with the acquired qualifications (Table 1) negative attitude on the issue of professional development is prevailing (41.3% do not agree with the statement, 30.6% were undecided on this issue), while a smaller group (28.1%) of respondents had a different opinion.

In relation to the gender of the respondents, the difference in attitudes is evident. While the majority of male respondents (33.2%) have opinions that good opportunities for professional development with the qualification are provided, the majority of female respondents (47.8%) disagree with the above statement. In terms of professional advancement, returnees emphasized the presence of a negative attitude towards the statement that Upon the return the possibility of career

advancement

with

the

acquired

qualifications

is

given

(44.5%

disagree).

Analyzing the attitude of respondents regarding the openness of the labour market to those who have the qualifications and professional titles acquired abroad, about two-thirds of respondents (65.6%) agreed with the statement that The domestic labour market does not recognize the advantages possessed by these persons. At the same time the majority of respondents (48.8%) agreed with the statement that employers do not discriminate between the qualifications. qualifications.

higher

education

institutions.

Table 1: Evaluation of recognition of qualifications obtained abroad in domestic labour market Answer options

There have been provided good opportunities for professional development with the obtained qualifications I feel there has been provided a great opportunity for a career progress upon returning

The domestic labour market does not

N

Mean

Statist ic

Statist Std. ic Error

Std. Deviati on Statisti c

Varian ce Statisti c

148

2.13

7.51E -02

.83

.682

148

2.14

7.85E -02

.86

.734

148

1.43

5.81E -02

.64

.412 28

recognise the advantages of highly educated returnees

Employers do not make any differences between domestic and foreign qualifications

148

1.70

6.92E -02

.77

.589

In order to assess the level of evaluation of knowledge and skills of the professional environment in relation to the sector the respondents got employed in (Table 2) analysis was conducted on the basis of four presented statements. It is interesting that among the respondents from the included sectors of work (public, private, nongovernmental and international) opinion prevails that their colleagues in the workplace respect them because of knowledge and skills they possess (58.5% agree). However when in their work environment they want to apply new methods, respondents who are employed in the public sector often are met with disapproval (40% agree). On the other hand those who work in private, as well as non-governmental (83%) and the international sector (50%) do not encounter such difficulties. At the same time, public sector employees are exactly those who believe that their current professional position is not consistent with the knowledge and skills they possess.

Table 2: Professional recognition of obtained skills and knowledge Answer options

I have noticed that my co-­‐ workers appreciate the knowledge and skills gained abroad Usually, I get approval when I want to apply some of new methods at the workplace I have no chances to fully transfer

N

Mean

Std. Deviati on

Varian ce

Skewness

Kurtosis

Sta tist ic

Stati stic

Std. Error

Statisti c

Statisti c

Statist ic

Std. Erro r

Std. Statist Erro ic r

14 8

1.53

6.45E -02

.70

.490

.941

.223

-.386

.442

11 8

1.97

7.61E -02

.83

.683

.064

.223

-1.534

.442

14 8

1.58

6.96E -02

.76

.571

.885

.223

-.688

.442 29

possessed knowledge and skills due to a rigid working/company policy

My current position is not in accordance with possessed knowledge and skills

14 8

1.89

8.14E -02

.88

.783

.219

.223

-1.698

.442

Assessing the satisfaction of respondents with a professional status in BiH (Table 3) respondents were most satisfied with their working conditions (37.9%), were partially satisfied with the material status (40.8%), while most expressed feeling of dissatisfaction due to inability to progress at work (41.6%) and more among female than among male respondents.

Looking at the professional environment the respondents come from, most of them from the four above-mentioned sectors point out that they do not have the full ability to apply knowledge and skills which they possess, due to the rigid approach that prevails in the working systems.

Table 3. Rate of returnees’ satisfaction with their professional status in BiH N

Mean

Std. Deviat ion Statist ic

Varia nce Statis tic

Statis tic

6.89E02 7.16E02

.77

.593

.80

7.39E02

.82

Answer options Stat Stati istic stic 145 Financial status

145 Career progress and development 144

Working conditions (time, office, environm.)

2.06 2.17

1.92

Std. Error

Skewness

Kurtosis

Statistic

-.110

Std. Err or .217

-1.296

Std. Err or .430

.641

-.314

.217

-1.371

.430

.676

.151

.217

-1.506

.431

3.1.10 Motivational reasons in the context of emigrating/returning 30

It is to be assumed that the personal investment into education outside BiH would further result in higher achievement in professional development, better business opportunities and greater prospects for development of an international career, with the possibility of acquiring technical / technological knowledge and qualifications that are recognized on a global scale.

These reasons are closely connected with the existing push and pull factors which within the economic theory of migration explain why someone decides to emigrate. Lee (1966) in the framework of theories of migration, reasons for emigration splits into two factors: push factors that are associated with the socio-economic and political situation of a country and pull factors, which attract migrants, such as opportunities for professional development, employment, better education, a positive socio-economic and political environment of the state to which they go to.

By inspecting the variable that assesses the motivation to acquire a formal education outside of Bosnia and ranging responses received it can be seen that the most important motive among respondents is the possibility of scientific, technical and professional training (97.9%). Also, personal motives, such as exploring new cultures (59.0%), learning foreign languages (55.2%), and meeting new people (53.7%) are also very important to respondents. It is interesting that a smaller number of respondents consider as very important the sense of independence and adulthood that is acquired by education outside of BiH, due separation from the parents (44.0%), as well as finding a job easier upon their return (42.1%). It seems that far less attention is given to the motivational factors such as partying and adventure (not significant 45.6%, partly significant 45.6%) and the ability to facilitate employment and staying abroad (partly significant 41.9%, not significant 37.4%). This is interesting from the point that public opinion generally prevails that the desire for education outside of BiH is present only because of the intention to facilitate the departure, find employment and long-term stay in the country of emigration, while our data actually show the presence of different motives for education abroad , which are contrary to the expectations.

While going abroad for education is a part of the brain drain process, the authors Mayer and Peri (2008) consider that the concept that favours mobility and brain circulation is more and more present with highly qualified people, and that the return of migrants is not a kind of marginal process, because in fact the evidence shows that out of the total number of migrants at the global level, a quarter of them decide to return, in which there is a significant proportion of highly educated people. In fact, their analysis showed that the countries of Eastern Europe and Asia, almost 20-30% of highly educated migrants decide to return, and that temporary migration 31 Â Â

is of utmost importance and a return channel for sending countries in terms of productivity and improvement of the human capital. Authors Gundel and Peters (2008) by analyzing migrants in West Germany during the period from 1984 to 2006 found that the proportion of highly educated immigrants that returned is rather large, considering that this is a population that expresses a greater possibility of temporary migration for the purpose of flow of knowledge and capital in relation to those people who have less developed skills and capacities.

Given that the focus of this study is the population of returnees with temporary migrant experience in education and training, it is important to evaluate the experiences and attitudes of respondents regarding the motives for return.

From the results we can conclude that the motives of the returnees are different and are more attuned to private, professional and technical reasons. Evaluating the motives which can be grouped under private sphere, there is a dominant presence of the desire to help with the acquired knowledge and experience in building and development of the country (47.9%). Also, an important motivation to return are families and friends who live in Bosnia and Herzegovina (46.4%), while in terms of the presence of nostalgia and the desire for personal development in BiH, these motives are somewhat less manifested.

When it comes to professional motives, as an essential characteristic of the reason to return is also the possibility of returning to the position they had before going to study outside of BiH (25.0%), while on the other hand the motives that indicate the possibility of advancing in the BiH labour markets (12.1%), gaining experience in Bosnia and Herzegovina (8.6%), and to start their own business (5.7%), are very low and almost negligible. This only substantiates the already confirmed fact that the respondents even before they return were very realistic in terms of difficulties and obstacles faced by labour market in BiH. In terms of motives to return, which are of the technical nature, the most intensive conditionality is the scholarship agreement which made the scholars obligated to return to the country after graduation (35.7%). For a smaller group of respondents, even completing the study represents a significant reason for the return (24.3%), while a smaller number of subjects and sharp migration policy of the country where they were, affected the thinking about returning (10.7%). In addition to the presence of personal motives to return a significant role in attracting highly qualified professionals into their country of origin can also have a variety of programming initiatives created by foreign states. When asked whether they were aware, before returning to their state, of the program of assistance and support for the return of professional staff, 95.5% 32 Â Â

gave a negative answer. Dominantly expressed negative response renders insufficient attention of the state to the important capital that this population has, as well as non-recognition of the need for the creation of strategic documents and the actions that will contribute to more effective brain gain into BiH. We wanted also to evaluate the existence of motives among the respondents for the eventual re-leaving BiH. 34.9% of respondents show intention and think about emigration from Bosnia because of the current situation in the country, but this time for a much longer period. On the other hand, according to past experience, temporary emigration because of professional and vocational training plans 31.0% of respondents. Not sure about the decision to go abroad again confirmed 22.2%. A very small group of respondents 11.9% are not thinking about leaving, because they are satisfied with their lives in Bosnia. The data show that there are a dominant number of those who are thinking about leaving again in a temporary or permanent form, as compared to those who do not express such an intention.

3.1.11 The importance of networking in the process of knowledge of transfer and development

After completing their education and return to their country of origin, highly qualified people in addition to professional knowledge and new skills, also bring with them the contacts they established during their study, or a temporary stay abroad. These are contacts that make a significant professional, scientific, technical, and political networking and connectivity between the home country and the country were they were educated. According to the authors of Dos Santos and Postel-Vinay (2003) mentioned networks allow the transfer of knowledge and technological innovation, as well as the dissemination of democratic values and norms, which can significantly remunerate to home country with the sources of knowledge and information that become lost during the brain drain. This has an even greater significance in a country such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is faced with numerous transition challenges, such as implementing the transitional socio-economic reforms and the consolidation of democracy within their borders. The experiences of countries such as Slovenia, confirm the fact that national initiatives for the return of educated young people, substantially affects much more quickly and efficiently overcomes the transition process and the more successful European integration (Horvat,2004).

When it comes to experience in the context of networking and connectivity, the majority of respondents (74%) have a membership of national and international professional organizations/ 33

societies/associations, a little less than half (48%) belong to organizations in the field of scientific research activities. On the question of whether contacts and a professional network acquired through membership in these organizations are used for professional purposes, half of the respondents (51.2%) responded affirmatively, while 22.4% of them do it on a regular basis.

Assessing how highly educated professionals with their experience of being abroad contribute to the development of BiH, dominates the view that it is usually composed of the professional engagement, applying and implementing new methods and approaches to work (61.6%). Also half of respondents exchanges knowledge and information with colleagues who have studied abroad (56.8%) in order to have more successful development of the field of their engagement. A number of highly educated experts (48.0%) also assist students in BiH in finding foreign scholarships. When it comes to the transfer of knowledge to the public professionals in BiH, most of respondent do it through presentation of their papers at conferences or through lectures / classes (44.8%). Also, contributions can be seen through the provision of support to project activities in order to develop and improve local communities (40%). In linking domestic and foreign researchers / professionals, a smaller group of respondents (38.4%) is involved in this process.

The analyzed data indicate that many highly educated people, in addition to personal benefits achieved by schooling abroad, are further advocating for the advancement of the adverse social context of BiH .

3.1.12 Brain gain in the context of scientific research The brain gain process, in addition to the economic development of the country and the successful implementation of transitional reforms in the social and political agenda, has a very important role in the academic and scientific system. Higher education system in the context of science and innovation represents a sector which is most worth investing in and in the long-term has an important strategic and development role for each country. Unfortunately, the allocation for science in BiH is very modest and insufficient, and makes up about 0.1% of gross domestic product, while the EU standards in this field is about 2% (Nikolic et al., 2010). Despite attempts to promote investment in the development of science by adopting the strategy of development of science in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2010-2015, and by forming the Council for Science in the BiH Ministry of Civil Affairs, the real state of scientific and academic sectors in BiH is still quite negative. It is reflected in a low level of investment in research and development, lack of 34

scientific equipment and literature, inactive access of scholars to publications, lack of presence at international scientific meetings, modest mobility of academic staff and cooperation in international terms, with a very slow progress in the academic community with an expressed elitisation in the process in science.

Inspecting the variable that assesses the level of professional engagement and involvement in the universities in BiH, only 15.5% of persons have an academic title in one of the public universities and 6.08% at private universities. At the same time, there is a negative attitude toward the academic community with the largest number of survey respondents (70.9%), as most agree with the statement that the state academic institutions / scientific communities are much closed to closer cooperation with highly qualified experts / scientists with experience in training abroad. Also, the degree of agreement was very high in relation to the claim that domestic scientific community does not recognize the advantage of acquired knowledge and skills that this population possesses (52.0% agree, partially agree 38.6%).

This only confirms the general picture that the local scientific and academic communities act uninterested in the brain drain issue, which was agreed by 71.7% of survey respondents.

Table 4: Level of agreement regarding academic/scientific community openness N

Mean

Std. Variance Skewness Kurtos Deviation Statistic Statistic Std. Statistic Statistic Statistic Std. Statistic Error Error E 126 2.90 2.63E.29 8.686E-2.791 .216 5.883 There are government 02 02 strategy and action program for highly educated returnees

126 2.68 4.60E.52 .266 -1.316 .216 .749 Academic sector is 02 being very opened to setting up a close collaboration with scientists/professionals who have been educated abroad

126 1.58 5.89E.66 .438 .713 .216 -.543 Scientific community 02 does not recognize the advantages of skills and knowledge gained Answer options

35

126 1.58 5.89E.66 .438 .713 .216 Scientific community 02 does not recognize the advantages of skills and knowledge gained abroad and it is very closed in terms of collaboration with this population

126 1.32 4.73E.53 .282 1.427 .216 Academic community 02 is not being interested in rising up “brain drain” problem in a Given sthat it was previously observed that within the scientific system there is a lack of many wider ense quality young professionals, it is necessary to open up to the possibility of cooperation with highly educated returnees, to give them a chance to become part of the system. Only in that way can priceless knowledge and skills they possess in the form of capital be applied in the interest of development and improvement of scientific and research community in BiH.

3. 2 Qualitative Outcomes

This chapter will examine the participants’ views and opinions towards several issues which have arisen as potential themes during the course of this study. The following section is an analysis of the seven individuals that were undertaken during the research project, and provides an analytic thinking towards emerged themes.

36

-.543

1.127

This analysis will also include selected quotes used to illustrate the conclusions, and will be related to the findings from the relevant literature.

3.2.1 Brain drain and BiH society Assessing the consequences of the loss of educated and qualified staff, regarding what has BiH been facing for the last ten years, all seven respondents expressed the opinion that the above process is detrimental, in terms of economic development to the country, especially with negative consequences for the education and health sectors as well as scientific-research activities, which affects the low competitiveness of BiH. Stated by the representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Labour and Employment, the emergence of the brain drain has had negative reflects on the demographic aspect in general, since domestic population and workforce have been growing older, while participation of youth with advanced skills and knowledge in the labour market has been significantly decreased. As a rule, most people with high qualifications which are leaving are the younger persons, talented, with occupations in demand. This claim is further substantiated by the representative of the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees (MHRR) with the fact that immigrants from Bosnia who leaves abroad are far more educated than the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina (where the average of the tertiary education is 6.5%). How the society does actually manage to cope with this phenomenon, the best explanation is by a representative of the Friedrich Herbert Foundation NGO (FHF): "... a good example in the increased percentage is of the departure of our medical experts to Slovenia and other countries where there is a deficit of these jobs, and we remain deprived of these professionals, and in deficit ourselves. This sector remains slowly handicapped.”

However, in addition to these adverse consequences, there is the view that the brain drain can have a positive effect. On this occasion, the representative of the World University Service (WUS) Austria said: 37

"Departure of experts outside of BiH may represent a kind of networking opportunity for business, academic, cultural and sports national entities with potential partners around the world, and it only depends on the how (the) state will act to encourage the formation of these networks, through the establishment of funds and implementation of programs."

Enormous loss of funds that the state has invested in the education of immigrants is also a significant negative effect of the brain drain process.

3.2.2 Institutional mechanisms for the recognition of the brain gain process Respondents have relatively similar views on the efforts invested by our society and authorities with regard to the sustainable return of youth who were educated abroad, and their staying longer in BiH. Analyzed responses show a general picture that because of the lack of appropriate mechanisms, institutions of BiH reflect lack of awareness about the potentials for development and human resources of this population, which results in the fact that the acquired competencies and skills of returnees are most often ignored. As a representative of the FHF says: "... for this category of persons the present structure of government in BiH is completely uninterested in, and it could gain a lot from them, because of the manner and the educational models that they have passed. They are perceived as a foreign element, instead of as capital. “ The MHRR representative points out that this issue becomes even more complex due to the existence of competence at different government levels in BiH. Respondents also indicate that the expressed lack of relevant data on the return of those who were educated outside of BiH and returned to their country further aggravates consideration of all possibilities and capacities that returnees can provide. A representative of the Ministry of Education and Culture pointed out that in BiH there is no central database of outgoing students, or students who study abroad. There's only a database of those granted scholarships, which is about 30% of the total. Also, there is an incomplete database of those returnees who have applied for recognition, which further speaks about the dysfunctional monitoring system, considering that in BiH there are 12 authorities responsible for the recognition of diplomas.

38

Above mentioned is partly associated with the inefficient system of scholarships which is implemented by relevant ministries at all levels of government, because according to representatives of FHF: "... there is not a single mode of control and monitoring for those who have graduated from college, and who were the recipients of scholarships, let alone where they are now.

There is not even a database where you can find these people. It would be logical, when one institution provides scholarships to someone, it invests money, encourages people, it would be logical to follow them when they finish, and find them a place in line with the qualifications they have gained ... There should be a connection of that kind, but there is none."

As result, there is an inadequate approach to the assessment of skills and qualifications that returnees possess.

3.2.3 Assessment of skills and qualifications for job market requirements In addition to the lack of reliable data on the number of returnees and their competence, it seems that the system of validation of foreign qualifications in BiH, is also seriously contributing to the non-recognition of skills, competencies and knowledge of these highly educated returnees.

Since the returnees are more educated than the domestic population, it could be said that some sort of deliberate discrimination exists in order to reduce competition with less qualified people who remained in Bosnia. This is additionally confirmed with their inferior position in the labour market, which is clarified by views of four respondents. In fact, labour and employment regulations are not adapted to the new system of recognition of foreign qualifications. In accordance with the new system, one can not get a title that is equivalent to the local profession anymore, but the title in the language in which it was gained is used. According to the opinion of the representative of the Ministry of Education and Culture, the biggest problem arises when a person, after the validation, attempts to involve in the local labour market with the acquired title.

She said: "All is well until you come to the Employment bureau ... categories are unadjusted for registration options of foreign qualifications, while at the same time the officers who work in the municipality and the Employment bureau do not recognize such knowledge simply can not recognize for what are you qualified for."

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This inadequate approach allows that this population is not recognized by employers and the local labour market. The problem is that an employer may not know what the level and quality of education are associated with foreign qualifications from the world's universities, while on the other hand those qualifications are generally adapted to foreign economy and administration, which in the opinion of the MHRR representative can create further negative phenomenon known as the brain waste: "If we have returnees with these qualifications that objective can not be used, it is expected that their capacity will not be recognized and that will lead to the brain waste."

Opinions are divided when it comes to returnees with high qualifications and their integration in the local labour market. In view of the above-identified problems, which are further accompanied by a high rate of unemployment and unstable political and economic environment, (the) UNDP representative considers that the returnees are nevertheless forced to make significant compromises in terms of finding work, wage rates and choice of sector. This further affects the reduced ability of their professional development, personal affirmation and application of knowledge and skills. NGO representatives also believe that the expressed presence of corruption, nepotism and lack of transparency in the system of employment, additionally aggravated the overall situation "... generally there is a problem with job vacancies since a 90% of vacancies are fixed there is no realistic assessment of skills and qualifications. It is a disease of our society."

Two of the respondents agreed with the statement that it is absolutely necessary to highlight the qualifications of people when applying for a job and that one should not emphasize the differences between people who have obtained qualifications abroad and those who studied in BiH, because it would be discriminatory and unproductive. Besides a formal labour market has been developed in a non-transparent manner, this also may rise the question about returnees possessed qualification and skills and to what extent they have been related to the needs of the labour market. This issue would expect more detailed research in the future.

Regarding the attitude of the state and the academic community the influx of highly educated returnees, in the opinion of all respondents, (the) academic community in BiH is a closed environment in itself, and therefore is closed for highly skilled returnees too. The main 40 Â Â

consequence of this isolation is the ''deprivation'' of scientific fields for specific knowledge which this category possesses. To consider the embarking on a knowledge-and innovation based development process within the higher education, it is necessary to open the academic community towards the mention category of returnees, which is unfortunately still not happening.

3.2.4 The attitude of public and NGO sector towards the brain gain With the existence of programs and strategic documents oriented to brain gain in BiH all respondents are familiar with, but also all seven believe that these programs are inadequate and that most are not even implemented. However, occasional activities that are implemented at various levels of government could be more considered as isolated initiatives and projects, because in the opinion of the respondents from the UNDP, it is a matter of useful and good examples, but because of un sustainability, unfortunately most of the implemented activities stop upon the completion of the project and do not have enough effect on the overall situation.

On the question of how the organizations from which respondents came from dealt with the problem of the brain drain/gain, it was observed that certain programs carried out by international and nongovernmental organizations in cooperation with the competent institutions in BiH significantly promote the transfer of knowledge from abroad into BiH. Thus, the International Organization for Migration has implemented the TOKTEN project (transfer of knowledge of experts of BiH origin into the home country) which was presented via all of then existing associations of BiH Diaspora in the world. However, the lack of funds prevented the continuation after one-year of its implementation, but the database of registered experts was forwarded to the Department for Emigration in MHRR, which is regularly updated. Currently being implemented is TRQN project (transfer of knowledge to the homeland of Bosnia and Herzegovina professionals who live and work in the Netherlands) and within the MIDWEB project experts are invited who live and work in Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and England to apply for temporary employment in BiH with employers who are interested in their knowledge and skills and in that way transfer their knowledge to their homeland. Thus, one can notice that IOM implemented most activities in this field. Although, out of the projects run by international organizations it is significant to accentuate the YERP program which is currently implemented by UNDP BiH. The aim of this program is opening the 41

labour market for young people and ensuring their stay, whereas WUS Austria, branch office in BiH, implemented a Brain Gain Program (BGP) - which was primarily aimed at the academic community in BiH. Looking at the public sector, the specific position is of the BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, in which the Department for Emigration operates, initiates and participates in the development of numerous strategies and documents in this area (BiH Development Strategy, BiH Strategy for Social inclusion, Strategy for Migration and Asylum) where certain activities are proposed in connection with the brain gain/drain process. One of the most important aspects of their work is gathering information about higher education people in the Diaspora, given the fact that there is no valid data, nor a single database. In October 2011 this Ministry has organized a three-day regional workshop on linking migration and development, where for the first time 1400 participants gathered and held a total of 18 professional seminars on the brain gain subject, and as a result cooperation was established between experts of BiH origin in the United States and experts in BiH. Thus, the general attitude of the respondents is that it is necessary to raise awareness about the negative consequences of brain drain and to introduce stimulating measures to facilitate the return of highly educated and skilled people, with the active participation of governmental and the non-governmental sector, including businesses and the academic community in BiH.

42 Â Â

4. Conclusion and recommendation

Besides public opinion generally prevails that the brain drain process has been Bosnian reality for more than a decade, the outcomes generated by this research actually show the presence of another migration process, which are contrary to the expectations. Analyses of migration patterns recognised a group of highly educated and skilled people who were determined to take higher education abroad and who subsequently decided to return home after gaining their degrees and qualifications. This puts them in a specific position, as in relation to other highly educated Bosnians who are moving abroad, obtained foreign (post)graduates degrees would certainly improve their integration into the labour market of receiving countries, but they were interested in returning to their home.

The mobility of tertiary graduates has identified the profile of highly educated returnees and those are people aged between 30 and 35 years of age, who have completed postgraduate studies in the field of social sciences in the English-speaking countries, supported by the grants of foreign governments and universities. There are just a few of those who have returned and possess advanced degrees in technical sciences, as such qualifications allow for often more permanent emigration, whilst at the same time there have been favoured degrees in social, political or legal sciences needed for socio-democratic and political development of post-conflict and transitional BiH. The assessment of the motivation to obtain a formal education outside of BiH show the presence of different motivates. The possibility of gaining scientific, technical and professional advanced knowledge is on the top of motivational factors for going abroad, while far less attention is given to general public opinion such as the improving ability to facilitate employment and staying permanently in the foreign country. At the same time, from results we can conclude that the reasons to return are different and are more attuned to private reasons.

43

There is a dominate presence of desire to help the country’s recovery with its competences and experiences obtained abroad, while another important motivation is also attached to close family and friendship bonds and networks which could be found in BiH. One of the presence problems for highly qualified returnees is the system for recognition of foreign diplomas in BiH, which has been marked as disharmonized, fragmented and partial.

More than of half respondents expressed clear dissatisfaction concerning the recognition of obtained degrees and qualifications.

The professional status of highly qualified professionals with experience of education outside the country is different. The majority of respondents were employed, but time spent to find a job largely depended on the geographical context. Those who returned to one entity in BiH (Federation of BIH) spent much less time to find a work, comparing to those who returned to another entity (Republic of Serpska). Additionally, the period that is marked by the global economic crises also negatively affected on highly educated returnees, as a group of 19 % respondents who have been unemployed actually had returned to the country between 2007 and 2011.

The assessment of occupational status of highly educated returnees showed that majority of them happens to be employed in the public sector, while just a modest number wished to start private entrepreneurship upon return, due to economic and political instability in the society and inadequate support by the state.

Evaluation of returnees’ gained skills and knowledge has showed that it often fails to be fully applied into the domestic labour market. Even though this group of people possess advanced knowledge and skills necessary for improving economic performance and social progress, such an important human resource is not widely recognized by the fragmented and inefficient domestic labour market. This was confirmed by two-thirds of respondents, while accordingly those who have been employed in the public sector usually face disapproval when they want to apply new methods in their work context. The overall perception of returnees is that colleagues in the workplace respect them because of knowledge and skills they possess. However, those who are professionally engaged in the public sector have expressed strong feelings of dissatisfaction due to inability to progress at workplace and limited professional development opportunities with the obtained qualifications.

While it is evident that the government has been investing far too little in understanding and using the potentials of highly educated returnees, the serious lack of accurate information and 44

database additionally show the state’s indifference position regarding (post)graduate returning process. There has been nearly impossible to see concrete the state’s actions and initiatives for the targeted population. Previous interventions have usually come from the international sectororganisation. Therefore, a recent activity on return migration operated by the Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees BiH in a close cooperation with some of NGOs having been observed positively by academics and professionals in the field.

Assessing the returnees contribution to the Bosnian development, a dominate view is usually related to their attempt to implement some of new methods and approaches into the work environment, as well as knowledge and information exchange to international colleagues with whom they studied abroad. The knowledge gained through study has been transferred at conferences or through lectures, linking domestic and foreign research or professional experiences. A significant contribution can be seen through the provision of returners support to project activities which a main aim is to develop local communities. Additionally, there is a strong engagement of the returnees in domestic professional organisations which collaborate with international ones, including the establishment of affirmative co-operative networks between the home country and usually the countries where they (post)graduate degrees were issued.

Assessing direct attitude of the academic community towards a process of “brain drain,” it is undoubtedly that the state’s scientific and educational institutions are not interested in addressing this issue in academia. Accordingly, it seems that the academic sector has become much closed to highly qualified experts with international educational experiences and do not recognise advanced knowledge- and skill-based value that this population being possessed.

Therefore, it is urgently necessary to open up the space for effective participation in academia of highly educated returnees in order to improve human capital development in science and technology education.

To conclude, even the circulation and mobility of scientists, scholars and professionals have been greatly promoted, it seems that the return process of highly educated migrants turn into marginalised and complex concept, particularly comparing to strong evidence of the brain drain phenomenon in BiH. Internationalisation, which is currently taking place across the globe and reflect demands of the globalisation of societies, economy, labour markets and higher education, affects in the way that consequently the higher education and the labour market can no longer be viewed in a strictly national way. These requirements include not only advance academic and professional knowledge, but also social and cultural skills, attitude, reform processes, 45

collaborative efforts and intensive international cooperation. There are many reasons why the Bosnian society should make more efforts generally in order to observe the temporary migration positively, as a return channel for the brain gain and human capital development, especially in terms of increasing competitiveness and innovativeness of its citizens. It is urgently important to improve the weaken state’s mechanisms of system of validation of foreign qualifications and supporting initiatives to the return process. At the same time, improving of mode of controlling and statistical monitoring would strengthening a better recognition of obtained knowledge and advanced competencies of highly educated returnees, as they can have an enormous impact on country’s productivity and macro-and-micro economic development in general.

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Qualitative interviews/survey-the list of participants 51

Hodzic, Jasmin – Program and financial officer, World University Service (WUS) Austria, BiH Mujanovic, Erol- Program manager and coordinator of YERP, MDG Achievement Fund, BiH Stanic, Isma- Head of the Department of Economic, Educational and Cultural Cooperation, Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees BiH. Starcevic, Jelena- Secretary of the Commision for Information and Recognition in Higher Education, Ministry of Education and Culture Republic of Serpska, BiH Sunje, Alma-Business Advisor, International Organisation for Migration (IOM), BiH Topic, Tanja- Political analyst, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, BiH Veselinovic, Sinisa- Head of the group, Agency for Labour and Employment BiH

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A SAMPLE OF ONLINE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Age_____________ 2. Gender: a) male b) female 2. Country of Birth: 5. Marital status: a) b) c) d) e)

Unmarried Married Illegitimate marriage Divorced Widow / Widower

6. Do you have children? a) b) c) d) e)

No Yes-­‐one Yes-­‐two Yes-­‐three Yes-­‐more than three

7. Please specify the highest level of education you have been possessed (or if you are a student then your future qualification) a) b) c) d) e)

University education Specialization course (College level course) Master degree PhD Degree Postdoctoral degree

8. Indicate where you started/completed your education

University education Specialization course (College Education) Master degree PhD Degree Postdoctoral degree Research Fellowship

Started Completed in Started Completed in BiH outside BiH outside BiH B iH BiH

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9. Please specify the country where you have studied/obtained your degree outside of BiH? 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9)

Great Britain Denmark Sweden Norway Germany Austria Czech Republic The Netherlands The United States of America

10)Australia 11)Greece 12)Turkey 13)Spain 14)Slovenia 15)Croatia 16)Serbia 17)Macedonia 18)Other (indicate)____________________

10. Please Indicate the main field of your completed studies/obtain degrees/ abroad

_______________________________________

11. How did you cover the overall costs of your education abroad?

a) Received a scholarship granted by a foreign government where I studied b) Received a scholarship granted by a foreign University where I studied c) Received organisation’s scholarship (e.g. NGO’s, Humanitarian, foundation) d) Received scholarship granted by the entitety/national government (RS, FBIH, BIH) e) Student loan and credit f) With parents support and assistance g) Work and study

12. Please rate the level of importance of your own motivates for taking a (post)graduate study abroad

Unimportant Moderately Very Important Important

Meet new people/friend

Meet new cultures

Higher independence and adulthood feeling of separation from parents

Great fun and adventure 54

Greater possibility of facilitating the stay and employment abroad

Easier to access into domestic job market upon returning to BiH

Scientific and professional development

Improvement of a foreign language

13. Select the year when did you return to Bosnia and Herzegovina after completed your studies abroad

 1995  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009  2010  2011

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14. Where did you return? a) Federation of BIH b) Republic of Serpska c) District Brcko

15. What were your main motivations to return to Bosnia? (You can tick more than one answer) 

I wanted to rise up my child/children in BiH



My relatives and close friend living in BiH



I did not feel safe in the country where I lived/studied



To directly participate in Bosnian post-­‐conflict planning and economic recovery.



Due to a strong sense of homesickness



For personal development



Gaining work experience



I got a good business opportunity



Returned to a same job position which I left temporally



To start up my own business



Career progression in the Bosnian labour market



Poor employment prospects in the foreign country where I studied



End of the study program



Based on the scholarship agreement, I was obliged to return after completed my degrees



A strict migration policy in the country where I studied

16. Had you been informed before the return about any government programs regarding support the return process of highly educated Bosnians? 

Yes



No

17. Have you nostrificated your educational documents upon returning from abroad?

1. Yes 2. No 3. Nostrification is in progress

18. Please indicate the level of satisfaction with assessed process of foreign academic qualifications recognition in BiH?

• • • • •

Very Satisfied; Satisfied; Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied; Dissatisfied; Very Dissatisfied

19. Have you found a job upon returning from abroad?

•

Yes

•

No

20. Please indicate how long you have been hunting for a job ?

• I returned into the same position which I temporary left • 1-­‐3 months • 3-­‐6 months • 6-­‐12 months • More than 12 months 21. What is you’re current employment status?

• • • • • • • • •

Full time permanent job position Full time job on temporary contract Doing internship/apprenticeship Occasional unregulated work (informal labour market) I have my own business I have continued my education, so I am studying now I have been unemployed 6 months or less I have been unemployed from 6 months to year I have been unemployed for more than one year

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22. If you are employed, what industry sector do you currently work in ?

• • • •

Public sector Private sector Non-­‐governmental sector International sector

23. If you are employed, how did you find the current job?

• • • • •

Based on job's vacancy announcement.

Used informal channels (friends, colleagues, alumni network) Through a direct contact with organisation/company/university sending a CV Through a job office center I set up my own business

24. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding professional recognition of obtained skills and knowledge

I have noticed that co-­‐workers appreciate my knowledge and skills gained abroad

Usually, I get approval when I want to apply some of new methods at the workplace

I have no chances to fully use possessed knowledge and skills due to a rigid working/company policy

My current position is not in accordance

Agree

Neither agree not disagree

Disagree

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with possessed knowledge and skills

25. Evaluation of qualifications recognition in domestic labour market.

Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements ?

There have been provided good opportunities for professional development with the obtained qualifications The opportunity for a career progress has been provided to me upon returning home from abroad

The domestic labour market does not recognise the advantages of highly educated returnees

Employers do not make differences between the qualifications obtained at domestic and foreign higher education institutions

Agree

Neither agree not disagree

Disagree

26. Please rate the level of satisfaction with your current professional position in BiH

Material position Career progression Working conditions

Satisfied

Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied

Dissatisfied

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(hours, office)

27. Do you ever think about re-­moving abroad again?

• • • •

I will definitely do it again, but only for professional development I am thinking to leave the country for a longer period due to a difficult situation in the society I'm not sure about the decision on re-­‐moving the abroad Do not think about going abroad because I am satisfied with my life in Bosnia and Herzegovina

28. Please indicate if you have got an academic position at one of the universities in BiH?

Professor Associate professor Docent Lector Senior assistant Assistant Have no any position at university

State’s university

Private university

29. What are the conditions in Bosnia regarding conducting high-­quality independent researches that informs and influences ?

• • • • •

Extremely good Good Solid Poor Extremely poor

30. Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements

Agree

There are very obvious strategies and action programs in BiH in terms of supporting the return process of highly

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree

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educated persons who studies abroad

State academic institutions/scientific community are very open to close collaboration with highly educated professionals/ scientists who have returned home from abroad.

Domestic scientific community does not recognised the advantages of knowledge and skills gained abroad Domestic scientific community is not interested in dealing with the “brain drain” issues

31. Do you have a membership with certain professional (alumni) organisations/associations/societies either at domestic or international level?

Scientific Professional In a foreign country In BiH

YES

NO

32. Do you use for professional purposes the contacts and networks acquired through membership in these organizations / societies / associations ?

• • • •

Yes, regularly Yes, occasionally Do not use at all I am not member of any organisation

Semi-structured interview questions

What do you think about the current position context when it comes to the Bologna process?

of BiH in

European

education

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What is society's attitude on poor quality of higher education in BiH ?

Our country, as well as neighboring countries, is facing with a big problem of brain drain. What are the implications of this aspect of immigration on the BiH context?

Do you see any progress or measures taken by the competent institutions to keep highly qualified citizens in the country?

There are our citizens who are studying abroad and then return to BiH. How is perceived the importance of those persons with foreign degrees and qualifications in our society? Whether there are any obstacles that you have been familiar with regarding the brain return process?

In BiH have been registered high rates of unemployment and the mismatch between supply and demand in the labour market. Whether people with foreign qualifications are actually essential capital whose competence and advanced knowledge can be used for economic and social development?

There are also scholarships of foreign governments which provide opportunity to highly educated individuals to continue their education abroad. Are you aware of any similar programs which have been administrated by the relevant government institution in BiH and do you know how is it organized and what is like the monitoring system in this case?

There is no any data about the return process of the highly educated individuals and their involvement in the domestic labor market. How to improve this segment?

What then are the prospects of employment of highly educated returnees in the domestic market?

Our results say that majority of returnee respondents explained that it is getting very difficult to transfer obtained knowledge and skills in the public sector. Why is this so?

It seems that there is a problem in accepting these persons in the academic community. They are much closed system and difficultly accept persons who have been educated abroad. What do you think about this?

Returnees with the experience of temporary migration for the purpose of education reported that they were not familiar with any brain return programs in BiH. Are you familiar with the existence of policy documents and program activities in this are and how much you are familiar with the effect of these?

How much your organization has deal with the problem of "brain drain/brain gain? What a particular activity has resulted in connection with these topics?

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What types of actions or measures should be promoted in order to stimulate the return of highly educated people from abroad to BiH?

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