Grass Is Greener on the Other Side: Return Migration of Indian Engineers and Scientists in Academia

Abstract

Studies on skilled return migration from developed to developing countries have focused on the industrial sector. This article focuses on why academic engineers and scientists from developing countries leave developed countries to return to their countries of birth. Data for this study comes from a National Science Foundation funded study with 83 engineers and scientists who returned to India after study and work in U.S. universities. Better career prospects in India namely ample funding available for research, less competition for grants, ability to work on theoretical topics, and freedom in research objectives emerged as the key factors that prompted return. These findings, therefore, differ with return migration of industrial engineers and scientists who moved back primarily to start companies in India and immigration challenges in the United States. With very little scholarly work on return migration of academic engineers and scientists, this study expands the understanding of high skilled migration in a globalized world.