Intelligence, tenacity and creativity are qualities that do not depend on money and, in principle, any individual anywhere can have great abilities. People with these characteristics and who do not find job opportunities in their place of origin have the possibility of going to other countries where they can develop their potential as individuals. When this happens, it is called a “brain drain”.
An atypical migratory phenomenon
Traditional human migrations are based on a simple scheme: individuals of very humble origin who have no future in their countries and who decide to move to other places in search of a better life. This phenomenon is part of the history of humanity and countries like Argentina or the United States have been formed by waves of emigrants from all corners of the world.
The brain drain is another type of migration and normally the person who leaves their country with this label is someone with a good academic curriculum and a high-value qualification, but despite this their country of origin does not offer them a hopeful future.
The profile that stars in the brain drain is usually young, with a university education and a master’s degree or several, with languages, an entrepreneur and with a lack of expectations in their place of origin.
Hunting for the brain drain
In recent years there has been talk of headhunters, usually multinational companies or prestigious universities looking for highly capable individuals. The privileged brain and the entity that signs him find a point of agreement in which both parties win: the brain has an opportunity to display his talent and the entity that welcomes him signs a top-level individual with great potential. As is logical, the brain drain supposes a qualitative loss for the country that exports talent.
Examples of brain drain in the history of Spain
In the history of Spain there have been some episodes related to this phenomenon. As an example we can remember two paradigmatic moments:
1) as a consequence of the civil war, great intellectuals had to leave their homeland and many of them became the seeds of great projects and
2) as a result of the economic crisis of 2007, thousands of talented young people began an exodus to other countries with the desire to find a life project.
Another version of the brain drain in the history of Spain occurred with the expulsion of the Jews in the 15th century and with the expulsion of the Jesuits in the 18th century, two groups characterized by their worth and their intellectual stature, the Jews in commercial and financial activity and the Jesuits in the field of ideas.
Photos: Fotolia – freshidea / vectorfusionart
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