Human capital flight from Iran

According to the International Monetary Fund, the Islamic Republic of Iran had a substantial drain of highly educated individuals (15 percent) in the early 1990s.[1] More than 150,000 Iranians left the Islamic Republic every year in the early 1990s,[2] and an estimated 25% of all Iranians with post-secondary education then lived abroad in "developed countries" (according to the standards of the OECD).[1][3] A report by the International Monetary Fund in 2009 indicated that Iran tops the list of countries losing their academic elite, with an annual loss of 150,000 to 180,000 specialists. It is equivalent to a capital loss of $50 billion.[4][5][6] In addition, the political crackdown following the 2009 election protests is said to have created a "spreading refugee exodus" of elite Iranians.[7] It has also been reported that CIA is running a covert operation codenamed "Braindrain Project" with the aim of luring away Iran's nuclear talent, thus undermining Iran's nuclear program.[8]

Background

Between 1991 and 1999, job creation in Iran could provide for "less than 60 percent of those entering the job market", according to a 2003 United Nations Common Country Assessment of Iran's development.[5]

The CIA estimates that 77% of 51 million of Iranians aged 15 and over can read and write.[9] A significant majority of this population is at or approaching collegiate levels. Among the factors contributing to the brain drain are "economic well-being and better educational prospects abroad. The inability of the home country to respond to its citizens' needs, coupled with high unemployment rates and a general lack of intellectual and social security, all contribute to the brain drain. Additionally, self-censorship prevents people from thinking and writing freely, a limitation that makes both scientific and social science research extremely difficult."[10]

Intense competition for university seats in Iran also plays a key role. Only about 11% of the approximately 1.5 million people who take exams annually are accepted into a university. Even after acquiring an undergraduate degree, young people find there are few jobs available. According to official statistics, of the 270,000 university graduates entering the labor market each year, an estimated 75,000 can find jobs. The flight of human capital costs the government over $38 billion annually, two times the revenues received from selling oil. Under the provisions of a five-year development plan, the country is trying to create jobs for its unemployed population, though the results of these efforts have not yet materialized. Consequently, the country remains unable to benefit from its educated diaspora or its pool of unemployed experts at home."[10]

History
See also: Economic history of Iran

Emigration from Iran is said by one source to have started in earnest with conscription for the Iran–Iraq War. The government's need for fresh troops and the high mortality rate of those troops led to the flight of draft-age Iranian men to other countries.

Another factor may have been the cultural revolution, a part of the Iranian Revolution. On 12 June 1980 the Cultural Revolution shut down Iran's Higher Education system for over a year for a complete overhaul. Nonetheless, the flight abroad of educated Iranians was commented on as early as Oct 31 of 1980, when its importance was disparaged by the founder of the Islamic Republic in Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini:

"They say there is a brain drain. Let these decayed brains flee. Do not mourn them, let them pursue their own definitions of being. Is every brain with—what you call—science in it honorable? Shall we sit and mourn the brains that escaped? Shall we worry about these brains fleeing to the US and the UK? Let these brains flee and be replaced by more appropriate brains. Now that they (the Islamic Republic) are filtering, you are sitting worried why they are executing [people]? Why are you discussing these rotten brains of [these] lost people? Why are you questioning Islam? Are they fleeing? To hell with them. Let them flee. They were not scientific brains. All the better. Don't be concerned. They should escape. [Iran] is not a place for them to live any more. These fleeing brains are of no use to us. Let them flee. If you know that this is no place for you, you should flee too."[11]

The trend continued during the Iran–Iraq War, and after a post-war relative calm, picked up once again during the unprecedented incursion of the clerical establishment in Iranian universities, the last firm bastion of Iran's reformists. In November 2005 a cleric became chancellor of the University of Tehran, replacing Dr. Faraji-dana. This is the first time ever that Iran's clerical establishment replaces the traditional academia to head a major academic institution. He has however written several books and has served on the faculty of the College of Law as an expert on Islamic Jurisprudence.[12]

The lengthy list of Iranian chairs and directors of academia in these countries is arguably a sound index of this reality. Iran's Brain Drain has become a focus of the media both domestically and internationally.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

Some blame an impoverished job market (which in turn is blamed by many on western imposed Economic sanctions), while others blame a notorious tightening social system. As a symptom of this, in 2006, Iran's president promised to eradicate all universities from what he called "the liberal and secular influence".[20][21]

A report by The Washington Prism in Jan 2006 claims that the International Monetary Fund considers Iran ranked highest in Brain Drain among "developing" countries, with an estimated 180,000 people exiting Iran per year.[22] IRNA reports the figure to be 200,000.[23][24]

According to the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Higher Education, there are approximately 50,000 Iranian students currently studying abroad.[25]

Efforts to reverse trend
See also: Venture capital in Iran, Technology startups in Iran, and Economy of Iran

In recent years several measures have been taken to slow down the brain drain by providing work and research facilities for academics and highly skilled workers. In February 2003, the Iran National Science Foundation, was established to promote science and technology in Iran and benefit the welfare of those engaged in research.

Another institution founded to deal with the welfare of Iranians in Iran working in the sciences and technology is Iran National Geniuses[26] foundation.

Iran has tried to compensate for the brain drain by introducing the Graduate Record Bill, which calls for internalization and expansion of education at the graduate level, thus increasing the number of graduates.[27]

Further reading
  • Torbat, Akbar E (Spring 2002). "The brain drain from Iran to the United States". Middle East Journal. 56 (2): 272–295.
  • Migration Information Source[28] - Iran's entry
  • UCSC Study[29]

See also

References
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  2. Frances Harrison (January 8, 2007). "Huge cost of Iranian brain drain". BBC News. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2008.
  3. "Clarification On The 'Brain Drain.'". Rferl.org. 2004-04-12. Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2011-03-31.
  4. "Iran Faced With Growing Brain Drain: Report". payvand.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-25. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
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  7. "Iran's refugee exodus is exacerbating a brain drain that has stunted the country's development for years." Thousands Flee Iran as Noose Tightens DECEMBER 11, 2009
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  11. Interview with Ettelaat newspaper, آیت الله روح الله خمینی در ملاقات با اعضای کمیته امداد روزنامه اطلاعات، 9 آبان ماه 1358 . Link: See second paragraph Archived 2006-05-09 at Archive.today (in Persian)
  12. "نخستين رئيس روحانی برای دانشگاه تهران". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2012-04-19. Retrieved 2011-10-01.
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  21. Tait, Robert (September 6, 2006). "Iranian president calls for purge of liberal lecturers". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved April 22, 2008.
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