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The migration of professionals or brain drain is a widely discussed issue in developing countries. Professionally qualified engineers in developing countries migrate to developed countries for different reasons. Currently, young engineers who graduated from state universities in Sri Lanka migrate to Australia at an increasing rate. This research aimed to identify the push & pull factors that cause Sri Lankan young engineers to migrate to Australia as a case study. Using Facebook, we gathered a representative sample of Sri Lankan young engineers living in Australia and administered a 5-point Likert-type online questionnaire. Sixty-three engineers anonymously responded to the survey. The Australian government's introduction of the Subclass 476 -Skilled Recognized Graduate Visa is a significant motivator for Sri Lankan young engineers to migrate to Australia. Results showed that political influence and corruption were major driving forces behind the young engineers' migration, as were lower salaries and unfavorable working conditions in Sri Lanka. In contrast, opportunities for career advancement and education and a desire to gain exposure to a new culture are strong reasons to move to Australia. The majority of migrated engineers prefer the life they live in Australia. Outcomes of this study will support stakeholders of the engineering profession in Sri Lanka to tackle the brain drain issue of engineers in Australia.

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This study aims to ascertain the factors that influence young women engineers in Sri Lanka to choose engineering as their career choice and to study the nature of workplace support they receive in a highly gendered work environment. An online self-administered questionnaire containing five-point Likert type and open-ended questions were distributed via email among a conveniently selected sample of over 200 young women engineers with less than 10 years of working experience in Sri Lanka. Eighty-two responses were received. Likert-type responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics and graphical methods, while thematic analysis was employed for responses to the openended question. Cleverness in mathematics and the higher reputation prevailed in the society for the engineering profession have majorly contributed to the young women engineers' career choices in engineering. They experience a fairly supportive working environment in their workplaces. Many of them were satisfied with their salary, promotions and other professional achievements. Qualitative responses further revealed the gender-based discrimination, lesser job opportunities, industry-wise differences, fallacies on women engineers and difficulties in balancing the work-life as the other concerns in their workplaces. Although these findings cannot be generalized to the Sri Lankan industrial sector due to the use of convenient sampling, this study reveals prevailing concerns of young women engineers for the attention of the engineering fraternity and employers.

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