Fear of Brain Drain: Russian Academic Community on Internationalization of Education

Abstract

Emigration of skilled and able from Russia markedly increased in mid-2010s, thus pushing multiple Russian scholars to reassess the phenomenon, its definition, scope, consequences, and causes. This article found that the nexus between brain drain and internationalization of education plays an important role in the debate. By means of analysis of the texts of scholarly articles in Russian academic journals and of the transcripts of interviews with Russian educators directly involved in internationalization of education, this study found that despite most representatives of Russian academic community perceive emigration as a concern for the nation, they simultaneously view it as a perfect choice for an individual, who is skilled and able. The ambivalent perception of brain drain creates the situation, when some Russian academics justify their resistance to internationalization with assumption that it causes brain drain, whereas some others by word and deed support internationalization as a means to curb emigration. In the context of controversial educational reforms underway in Russia since 1990s, such perception helped internationalization survive as a target of the reforms, despite their overall course reversed in 2010s compared with 1990s.