Return to the countryside: The return intentions of highly educated young people in the Akmola province of northern Kazakhstan

Abstract

The rural out‐migration of young people leads to problems such as “brain drain” and the overageing of the rural population. The purpose of this paper is to study return migration motives among students originating from rural areas. The case study relates to the province of Akmola, northern Kazakhstan. Based on data collected from college and university students (n = 357), a binary logistic regression model is used to identify rural return motives. Noneconomic and economic motives are equally important in forming a return intention. Our findings do not suggest that particularly underperforming students intend to return. As expected, compared with those in major cities, students who study in a regional town intend to return more often. We also found a large difference in return intentions along ethnic lines. Students of non‐Kazakh decent are much more likely to return than ethnic Kazakhs, and the two ethnic groups have quite distinct motives indicating signs of ethnic discrimination against non‐Kazakhs in the job market.

The Impact of Place Attractiveness and Social Supports on Internal Return Migration

“…The returnees do not have the obligation to return, but choose to do so since they see increasing opportunities for them in their home communities or feel that they can move up faster in their career development in their home communities. Good perceptions of job finding opportunities in hometown also have a large and significant impact on a student's return intention and decision (Soon, 2010;Rérat, 2014;Crescenzi et al, 2017;Buchenrieder et al, 2019). Thus, Hypothesis 1: Job opportunities in hometown is positively related to return migration decision.…”

“…Better chances for getting a good job have substantial impact on immigration and outmigration (Huang & Zhang, 2013). Favourable perceptions of chances for higher wage at home, perceptions of skill use opportunities and job promotion prospects at home encourage students to return (Buchenrieder et al, 2019). The returnees do not have the obligation to return, but choose to do so since they see increasing opportunities for them in their home communities or feel that they can move up faster in their career development in their home communities.…”

“…Traditionally, in several studies on relocation of households between central areas and suburbs, the role of living environment is highlighted (Rérat, 2014). In research on amenity-led or lifestyle migration in small rural communities, the importance of the quality of life and residential facilities in migration has again been strongly indicated (Buchenrieder et al, 2019). If a city can offer a wide range of natural amenities and various outdoor recreation facilities, it can attract knowledge workers (Lalli, 1992).…”

“…Recently, the analysis of the motives reported by graduates indicates that internal migration motivations are complex and present a significant challenge for researchers (Crescenzi et al, 2017). The patterns of these young graduates' move in the city or return back rural hometown during the transition from universities to the labour market, need to be considered in a wide range of contexts (Buchenrieder, Dufhues, Möllers, Runschke, & Sagyndykova, 2019). Migration decisions cannot be reduced to a single dimension (although income is important), are diverse, and depend on a variety of factors in which the social dimension is a significant factor (Chunyu et al, 2013;Buchenrieder et al, 2019).…”

“…The patterns of these young graduates' move in the city or return back rural hometown during the transition from universities to the labour market, need to be considered in a wide range of contexts (Buchenrieder, Dufhues, Möllers, Runschke, & Sagyndykova, 2019). Migration decisions cannot be reduced to a single dimension (although income is important), are diverse, and depend on a variety of factors in which the social dimension is a significant factor (Chunyu et al, 2013;Buchenrieder et al, 2019). Furthermore, in developing countries, internal migration is increasing rapidly, and patterns of internal migration have been changing (Nguyen & McPeak, 2010).…”