1050 



tries may suffer when a number of their educated elite migrate. Then 

 there is the matter of equity among nations, or even by implication 

 the moral question, if the wealthier nations of the world appear to be 

 capitalizing on the scarce human resources of the underprivileged 

 nations. Many Americans responded to this problem from a sense of 

 national guilt. There are also the political implications of whether to 

 permit the free movement of persons throughout the world, or whether 

 to restrict such movement to some degree. This question raises such 

 key issues as those of national loyalties, world-mindedness, and the 

 uses of knowledge, all of which impinge directly upon the universal 

 perspective of the modern man of science.^ 



DEFICIENCY OF STATISTICAL DATA 



The complexity of the brain drain issue is compounded by the lack 

 of accurate, comprehensive, and rationally structured statistics on the 

 flow of professional and highly skilled manpower. Nearly every dis- 

 cussion of the brain drain published and examined during the past 

 decade stressed the absence of reliable statistics. The U.S. Immigra- 

 tion Service and the National Science Foundation are unique in pro- 

 viding data allowing some qualified judgments on the flow of profes- 

 sional manpower into the United States. Among the LDCs reliable 

 and comprehensive statistics are virtually nonexistent.^" In George 

 B. Baldwin's view, they ranged from "unsatisfactory to hopeless." ^^ 

 Except for the United States, the advanced countries have also been 

 remiss. "Even a country which claims to be badly hurt by the brain 

 drain, the United Kingdom," wrote Alessandro Sil], "has virtually 

 no statistics to offer except those furnished by the American immigra- 

 tion service." ^^ 



PROBLEMS or INTERPRETATION 



Varying interpretations given to available statistics add to the com- 

 plexity — indeed confusion — in attempting to analyze the brain drain 

 problem. Students of the brain drain are divided on the meaning of 

 the available data. "Nothing is more central to the study of profes- 

 sional migration and its presumed values," wrote Gregory Henderson 

 in his UNITAK study, "than the determination of what the available 

 statistics mean and what they do not mean. Agreement on this deter- 

 mination is not wide." ^^ 



Problems arise from the nature of immigration statistics. Migra- 

 tion is not a static phenomenon. Men move in and out, but statistics 



» Steven E. Deutsch, International Education and Exchange: A Sociological Analysis 

 (Cleveland: Case Western Reserve University Press, 1970), p. 27. 



i« Hla Myint of tlie London School of Economics gave the following appraisal of sta- 

 tistics on migration from the LDCs : "Although some attempts have been made to 

 assess the magnitude of the brain drain from the underdeveloped countries into the 

 United States, it is fair to say we have no reliable statistical information about the total 

 numbers involved in the brain drain from the underdeveloped countries to the advanced 

 countries as a whole." (Hla Mvint. "The Underdeveloped Countries : A Less Alarmist 

 View." In Walter Adams, The Brain Drain (New York: Macmillan. 1968), p. 2.33. 



11 George B. Baldwin, "Brain drain or overflow?" Foreign Affairs (January 1970), 

 p. .359. y .y V J /, 



12 Alessandro Silj, "Should Europe Recall Its Scientists?" European Community, no. 

 127 (September 1969), p. 6. 



" Gregory Henderson. Emigration of Ilighhi-SkiUed Manpower from the Developing 

 Countries. United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). New York, 

 1970, p. 10. y >, , 



