I shall make an endeavor to reach to the causes and their outcomes due to brain drain on developing countries like Pakistan. My research focus will be upon the district of Rawalpindi (Pakistan). Rawalpindi is an important location which houses many industries, commercial areas, universities/colleges and military headquarters.

The ever-increasing Pakistani Diaspora through the migration of skilled labor from Pakistan to industrialized nations in Europe, North America and oil-rich Middle East has contributed to a professional brain drain in the country. In recent years, the uncertain political situation and better job opportunities abroad has allowed many Pakistanis to seek prospective interests outside the country.

Now I would like to explain certain terms to high light the subject:-

2. INTRODUCTION

The term “brain drain” designates the international transfer of resources in the form of human capital i.e., the migration of relatively highly educated individuals from the developing to developed countries. This phenomenon, in the terminology of development economics refers to the loss of high quality manpower, which was once productively employed in the native country. The last decade has seen an increase in the international mobility of highly skilled, talented individuals in response to the expansion of the knowledge economy accompanying globalization. (Nadeem and Ashfaq, 2006)

This international movement of human capital can be identified, in practice, as the movement of scientists, doctors, educationists, engineers, executives, and other professionals across frontiers. These are people with special talents, high skills and specialized knowledge. The irony of international migration today is that many people who migrate legally from poor to richer lands are the ones that the Third World Countries can least afford to lose: the highly educated and skilled. Since the great majority of these migrants move on a permanent basis, this perverse brain drain not only represents loss of valuable human resources but could prove to be a serious constraint on the future economic progress of Third World nations. (Nadeem and Ashfaq, 2006) Unfortunately, in Pakistan we have not paid due attention to the general education of the masses and as a result, the country is far behind than others of the region in education sector. According to official sources, the current literacy rate in Pakistan is 51.6 per cent where female literacy rate is 39 per cent while that of male is 64. It means that two women out of every three and one man out of every three men are illiterate. (Nasir Nadeem and Dr. Muhammed Ashfaq, DAWN – Business, 18 October, 2006)

Currently, Pakistan is also facing the problem of brain drain. The migration of professionals to other countries such as the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and particularly the Middle East has increased considerably in recent years. Young, educated, and skilled Pakistanis, particularly engineers, doctors, IT experts, scientists and other professionals have either left the country or are planning to do so. This situation hinders the government from achieving its proposed goals. To date, no serious efforts have been made to stop this disastrous brain drain. And one of the main reason of for that brain drain is lack of proper career planning that’s why people don’t see their career flourishing in the futer and so they move across borders.

2.1. BRAIN DRAIN: The term brain drain was coined by the Royal Society to describe the emigration of “scientists and technologists” to North America from post-war Europe. Another source indicates that this term was first used in the United Kingdom to describe the influx of Indian scientist and engineers. The converse phenomenon is “brain gain”, which occurs when there is a large-scale immigration of technically qualified persons. There are also relevant phrases called “brain circulation” and “brain waste”.