Economic emigration from Poland to Western Europe

Female Brain Drain in Poland and Germany: New Perspectives for Research

“…Among the 68%, a majority of respondents expressed their wish to emigrate to the West. All in all, 13 million people living in Central and Eastern Europe were actively considering moving to Western Europe (Gwiazda, 1992 2017new TV channel accessible through satellite, Polonia (which means "Polish diaspora"), was created. This is when policymakers started to measure the importance and influence of Polish communities abroad.…”

“…Low income, poor labour conditions, low prestige and recognition, low social status of jobs in the science and education sectors, poor equipment, poor laboratories, lack of funding, restricted access to foreign academic literature, and limited opportunities were the push factors explaining the emigration of Polish scientists. The 1980s and early 1990s were also characterised by the massive emigration of computer programmers, biologists, physicians, engineers, and academics (Gwiazda, 1992). However, while the number of Polish migrants among the scientists was high in the 1980s, it decreased in the mid-1990s (from 52% to 11%) (Kaczmarczyk, 2010).…”