Outline. Why is international mobility an important policy issue? The International Mobility of Researchers. IMHE Conference

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1 The International Mobility of Researchers IMHE Conference 8 and 9 September 28, Paris Ester Basri Science and Technology Policy Division, OECD Contact: ester.basri@oecd.org Outline Why is international mobility important? Where are the highly skilled moving? What are the motives of researchers? How are policy makers responding? Summary and policy options 2 Why is international mobility an important policy issue? Human resources in science and technology (HRST) are critical to innovation and growth R&D expenditure and need for skilled workers is increasing International mobility is growing rapidly International mobility is not just a supply issue it facilitates knowledge diffusion 3 1

2 Maintaining capability Demand for researchers and HRST is expected to increase further Demand is also driven by demographic changes Supply is affected by the attractiveness of research careers 4 Departures: a large proportion of expatriates are highly-skilled Expatriates as a % of all native-born, OECD, % of native born 1 1 Expatriate rate (Total population) Expatriate rate (Highly skilled) But differences across the OECD Distribution of expatriates by skill level and country of origin, 21 1% 9% 8% 7% 6% % 4% 3% 2% 1% % High-skill Medium-skill Low-skill 6 2

3 Expatriates concentrated in US, EU Canada and Australia Shares of highly-skilled immigrants in the OECD, 21 Other, 17.9 Switzerland, 3 United States, 37.1 Germany, 3.9 France,.1 United Kingdom, 8.3 Australia, 12.7 Canada, 12 7 Arrivals: intra-oecd mobility significant Highly skilled migrants by OECD country of residence, 21, as % of highly skilled natives % Highly skilled from OECD countries Highly skilled from non-oecd countries 1 8 Examples of non-oecd mobility Foreign born highly skilled migrants in select OECD countries by country of birth & country of residence, 21, thousands India China Russia S. Africa Brazil US Canada UK Australia Japan Other OECD 9 3

4 Recent evidence: Australia Number of academic arrivals and departures Long Term and Permanent Arrivals Long Term and Permanent Departures Source: Hugo 27 p Recent evidence: United Kingdom Percentage change in permanent academic staff in UK universities, by nationality, 199/96 to 23/4 % change UK W. Europe and Scandinavia Eastern and Central Australia, US, Canada China, Japan and East Middle East and Central Other non-european Europe and NZ Asia Asia Source: Universities UK, 27. calculated from Table 8 11 Why are researchers mobile? Employment related Better employment opportunities, professional development, career advancement Access to scientific infrastructure & research funding Personal reasons Family-related, lifestyle 12 4

5 What types of policies are used? National policies use similar techniques to attract a similar target audience. Focus is on inflows. Few countries have mobility strategies Level of intensity differs by country e.g. resources committed and number of HRST affected Some policy co-ordination is appearing Institutional-level policies are complementary 13 Economic incentives for inflows of HRST 14 Source: OECD, 28, The Global Competition for Talent Main messages The global demand for talent has become increasingly competitive This is likely to continue and may accelerate since opportunities are improving in supply countries Mobility is complex, takes many forms and researchers are motivated by a variety of factors 1

6 Policy options Consider removing barriers to short-term and circular mobility, and fostering connections with diaspora Policies cannot simply focus on monetary incentives HRST and researchers are attracted by wider support for science and innovation Remove any obstacles to domestic supply of HRST. 16 For more detail, see: 17 6