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Opening Pathways, Building Bridges explores contemporary skilled migration and the brain drain using a bottom-up approach, based on a case study of Mexican scientists and engineers—or the Brains, as coined by the author—working in the UK. It provides an insight into how the phenomenon is shaped by the migrants’ personal and professional experiences (from Mexico to the UK: ‘opening pathways’) and how their contributions could have valuable effects through diaspora policies (from the UK back to Mexico: ‘building bridges’).
The research is based on an analysis of 36 semi-structured, qualitative interviews with Mexicans graduated in STEM fields, who currently work in academia or the private sector in the UK, and the empirical findings are organised into three main topics: transnationalism, professional experience and collaboration at a distance. It is argued that a more balanced exchange between Mexico and the UK can be achieved by building more bridges with the diaspora through long-distance collaborative initiatives. For this to happen, it is important for policy-makers to understand the relevance of skilled individuals’ choices and experiences, the value of their networks and communities of interest, the existing imbalances between developed and developing countries, and the challenges posed by scientific and professional collaborative projects.
This book offers some ideas and policy recommendations arising from the research, in order to better understand—and face—the challenges of skilled migration in future years and, ultimately, mitigate the negative effects of the Brains’ departure.
Show moreOpening Pathways, Building Bridges explores contemporary skilled migration and the brain drain using a bottom-up approach, based on a case study of Mexican scientists and engineers—or the Brains, as coined by the author—working in the UK. It provides an insight into how the phenomenon is shaped by the migrants’ personal and professional experiences (from Mexico to the UK: ‘opening pathways’) and how their contributions could have valuable effects through diaspora policies (from the UK back to Mexico: ‘building bridges’).
The research is based on an analysis of 36 semi-structured, qualitative interviews with Mexicans graduated in STEM fields, who currently work in academia or the private sector in the UK, and the empirical findings are organised into three main topics: transnationalism, professional experience and collaboration at a distance. It is argued that a more balanced exchange between Mexico and the UK can be achieved by building more bridges with the diaspora through long-distance collaborative initiatives. For this to happen, it is important for policy-makers to understand the relevance of skilled individuals’ choices and experiences, the value of their networks and communities of interest, the existing imbalances between developed and developing countries, and the challenges posed by scientific and professional collaborative projects.
This book offers some ideas and policy recommendations arising from the research, in order to better understand—and face—the challenges of skilled migration in future years and, ultimately, mitigate the negative effects of the Brains’ departure.
Show moreList of Figures – Foreword – Professor Brian Balmer: Acknowledgements – List of Abbreviations – Introduction Neither From Here Nor From There: Transnationalism, Identity, and Belonging – Opening Pathways: The Professional Experience of the Brains in the UK – Building Bridges: Collaboration at a Distance, Scientific Diplomacy, and the Challenges for Diaspora Policies – Conclusions – Appendix – Index.
Tonatiuh Anzures is a political scientist at the Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico and a specialist in education policy. He holds a PhD in Science and Technology Studies (STS) from University College London (UCL) and an MSc. in Public Policy from the Latin American Faculty for Social Sciences (FLACSO Mexico). He is an Honorary Research Fellow at the STS UCL Department.
“The anthropology is excellent. The understanding is strong. The
ideas are engaging. A must-read for everyone studying transnational
science and technology.”—Joe Cain, University College London,
UK
“Anzures’ work questions many myths such as the ‘brain drain’ and
the ‘loss of talent’ caused by the residence abroad of Mexicans
with high levels of training. The establishment of collaborative
networks and the development of research topics may contribute,
even at a distance, to solving relevant problems in different
fields of knowledge. A must-read for
science policy decision-makers in developing countries.”—Rocío
Grediaga, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Azcapotzalco,
Mexico
“Unlike the majority of studies in Mexican skilled migration, this
book is not centred on the US, the typical destination for global
talent. Moreover, it is not a quantitative appreciation of what
countries ‘lose’ or ‘gain’ when valuable human capital migrates.
Instead, Anzures creatively explores the human aspect of skilled
migration, with original and even funny details of Mexican policy
for scholarships abroad.”—Camelia Tigau, Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México, Mexico
“Skilled migration has become a critical yet insufficiently
explored topic internationally. Anzures’ book, focused on Mexican
STEM immigrants in the UK from a transnational perspective,
provides a valuable and insightful contribution enabling us to
expand our understanding of key issues in the field.”—Raúl Delgado
Wise, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, Mexico
“Anzures takes us into the personal accounts of Mexican émigrés in
the UK, their lives, expectations, fates and challenges in their
new home, and considers the impact of this multi-faceted phenomenon
as an opportunity to build bridges, a community of interests of
mutual benefit to both Mexico and the UK.”—Héctor Hernández García
de León, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico
“Are the highly skilled Mexicans living abroad really ‘drained
brains’? Do they stay in touch with their home countries given the
distance? If so, how? These are critical questions that have long
concerned migration scholars. This book addresses them with a
particularity: it was written when the author himself was an
international student, allowing him to address the experiences of
his interviewees through his own biography.”—Mónica López Ramírez,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
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