Micro Push and Pull Factors Influence Human Capital Flight in Academia: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

This study aims to deepen the understanding of the issues of an intellectual brain drain in academia. There is no doubt that higher education is vital to the growth and development of a country. Hence, the universities need to maintain highly qualified human resources to ensure effectiveness and competitiveness. This research study is focused to investigate the experiences of the academicians who are foreign qualified and migrated to advanced countries, they were asked to describe their experiences, using their own stories and interpretations of their personal experiences. The qualitative research approach was adopted to get the gist of the real reason that prompts the academicians to stay or leave their home country after getting education from abroad. The study employed social constructivism as an interpretive framework analysis method and used purposive and snowballing sampling techniques. Semi-structured interviews were recorded and analyzed. Findings suggested that career opportunities, economic, social, education, technological factors, and adjustment issues caused the brain drain of academicians of public sector universities of Islamabad. The knowledge drawn from this research can operate as a piece of useful reference information for current and future recruitment efforts, support services, and helpful in minimizing the brain drain. Keywords: Academicians, Brain Drain, Human Resource, Higher Education Institutions (HEI), Push Pull Factors.