Origins and destinations known: A tracer study of international African doctoral graduates from South Africa’s universities

Abstract

The mobility of the highly skilled, summarized as brain drain, brain circulation and brain gain, remains a contentious issue for policy. Even so, the evidence base to inform policy remains poor. This gap is of particular importance to policymakers in countries that experience brain drain. This paper reports on the findings of a tracer study of international African doctoral graduates of South Africa’s leading universities. Since access to student records was problematic, the sample frame was developed by the inspection of library holdings of dissertations. This approach allowed for a representative sample to be surveyed. Contrary to the expectation that the majority of graduates would depart from Africa as a brain drain, it was found that the majority returned home on completion. Some 10% remained in South Africa as a brain gain to the host country, with but 5% leaving Africa. The outcome of their temporary migration was brain circulation and talent development.

Brain circuity: The case of South Africa as a hub for doctoral education

“…universities, show that just over half (55%) of respondents returned home after graduating. Our findings show that 33% remained in South Africa compared to Khan and Oghenetega's38 finding that 28% remained in the country.…”

“…When compared with the findings of Khan and Oghenetega 38 that 64% of doctoral graduates returned home, our findings, based on a larger sample and one that includes doctoral graduates from all South African That most respondents indicated that they remained in South Africa for academic reasons squares with Khan and Oghenetega's 38 finding that 17% of the 28% of doctoral graduates in their study remained in South Africa to pursue postdoctoral fellowships. It also supports the findings of previous studies that found the quality of South African university qualifications to be a strong motivator for selecting and remaining in South Africa.…”

“…8 A study on the retention, completion and progression rates of postgraduate students in South Africa 37 found that the three top reasons cited by non-South African doctoral students in choosing their doctoral degree qualification was the (1) academic reputation of the university, (2) their relationship with their (previous) academic supervisor, and (3) the availability of scholarships or bursaries. Khan and Oghenetega 38 found that the high quality of academic programmes offered by South African universities, funding made available by South African universities and research funding agencies, and the availability of speciality programmes were the three main reasons for students from Africa selecting South Africa as a study destination.…”

“…In the African context, there is anecdotal evidence that increasing numbers of doctoral graduates who pursued their studies abroad are returning home to Africa. 43 Khan and Oghenetega 38 found that, based on a relatively small sample, 27.5% of 463 doctoral students from the rest of Africa remained in South Africa, 63.8% returned to their home countries on the continent, and 5.0% relocated to countries outside of Africa.…”

The Status of Science, Technology and Innovation in Africa

“…At postgraduate level, some 40% of its doctoral graduates hailed from elsewhere in Africa (Cloete et al, 2015), and 60% of her postdoctoral students were internationals. A pilot study on the career paths of the international African doctoral graduate holders found that the overwhelming majority returned to their home countries upon graduation (Kahn et al, 2019; Kahn & Oghenetega, 2021). These mid-career professionals thereby engaged in ‘brain circulation’.…”