Portuguese Scientists’ Migration: a study on the 2008 crisis aftermath

Abstract

In the economic and social aftermath of the 2008 crisis there has been an important and growing new wave of highly qualified Portuguese emigration comprising scientists. No or very few public policies have been designed to reverse this phenomenon, risking the consequences of brain drain. International literature argues that professional reasons are central to scientists’ decision to migrate, even after the 2008 crisis. Spending some time in a foreign country to study, research, or teach, is perceived as a common step in an individual academic trajectory and an advantage for a successful professional career in academia. It is also encouraged by European Union policies. Twelve individual portraits of Portuguese scientists living in central Europe reveal how important other factors are to the migration decision‐making process. These factors include the economic crisis, student mobility programmes, and the current Portuguese scientific system revision.

“Knowledge migrants” or “economic migrants”? Patterns of academic mobility and migration from Southern Europe to Mexico

“…Later on in his interview, Jaime clearly cites “academic inbreeding” as being a significant barrier to finding an initial position at a Spanish university, because “it is well known that Spanish university lecturers are, overwhelmingly, former PhD students from the same university.” Jaime has no doubt: “Merit and talent are more valued in Mexico than in Spain.” Inbreeding, the lack of job opportunities and excessive rigidity are characteristics identified by most of the interviewees when describing Italian and Spanish academia. This is line with the existing literature on academic mobility, which has demonstrated that low wages, difficult working conditions, meagre research funding, and a lack of fair competition are the rule rather than the exception in the academic sector in Southern Europe (King & Conti, ; Galán & Agasisti, ; Ganga et al, ). By contrast, the literature has shown that Mexican academia is relatively open to new, foreign arrivals (Castaños Rodríguez, ; Izquierdo, ).…”

“…rigidity are characteristics identified by most of the interviewees when describing Italian and Spanish academia. This is line with the existing literature on academic mobility, which has demonstrated that low wages, difficult working conditions, meagre research funding, and a lack of fair competition are the rule rather than the exception in the academic sector in Southern Europe (King & Conti, 2013;Galán & Agasisti, 2014;Ganga et al, 2016). By contrast, the literature has shown that Mexican academia is relatively open to new, foreign arrivals (Castaños Rodríguez, 2011;Izquierdo, 2015).…”

“…Academia in Southern Europe is largely characterised by challenging working conditions, low wages, low public investment in research, and a lack of fair competition for positons, all of which negatively affecting job prospects especially for those at early stages in their academic career (Brandi, Avveduto, & Cerbara, ; Galán & Agasisti, for Italy; Ganga et al, for Portugal). These working conditions are shared with young, high‐skilled professionals outside of the academic setting for whom migration has become a valid option in pursuing a career (Mendoza, ).…”

“…It is possible that academic migration responds less to specific conditions in the sector and more to wider trends in labour conditions resulting from a greater precariousness in jobs in Southern Europe, especially among young people (e.g., Montanari & Staniscia, ; Pugliese, ). Yet, rather than “economic migrants,” people moving within academia have been generally considered to be “knowledge migrants” and “talent migrants” (Ackers & Gill, ; Ganga et al, ), to the extent that the literature rarely takes a labour market perspective when analysing academic mobility (Bauder, ). When this perspective has been adopted, the dominant approach has been to describe the phenomenon in terms of “brain drain” and the loss of human capital in less developed countries as a result of international migration (e.g., Rhode, ; Thorn & Holm‐Nielsen, ).…”

Global assessment of land cover changes and rural-urban interface in Portugal

“…from 2006 to 2012. These changes could be associated to the consequences of the recent economic and financial crisis, such as immigration and emigration trends (Cairns, 2011;Ganga et al, 2016;Fonseca and McGarrigle, 2014) and recent plans for territorial spatial planning and protection of forest against forest fires (Mateus and Fernandes, 2014;. Urban sprawl's complexity and magnitude motivated the European Commission to recommend actions to ameliorate their impacts and coordinate land use policies, within the European Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 period (CEC, 2006;EEA, 2006).…”