Studying the brain drain

With the announcement of a Talent Corporation to bring home Malaysians who've gone overseas, this research — Plugging the Brain Drain — seems relevant. The findings are quite accessible to the layperson, but if you have a little statistical background, you'll definitely get a chance to grapple with some of the most extensive publicly-available analysis of our brain drain (that I know of, at any rate).

It has its flaws, especially with regard to data collection (full disclosure: Kian Ming and I helped the author with some of the statistical analysis), but it is of course only an initial foray into studying the reasons behind why Malaysians leave — or come home. If you have any comments, do post them here or contact the author, Evelyn Wong, directly. Also do share if you know of any similar studies, or scholars working on this topic!

Overseas Graduates Paid More?

The following is a press statement from Jobstreet.com with regards to a study conducted which showed that graduates of overseas universities fair better than local grads in salary scale. I must say, the results didn't come as too much of a surprise, although I'd be keen to obtain the methodology and sample data for further analysis.

But before you read on, please bear in mind that these studies provide the "generalised" results i.e., there are always exceptions. You will find plenty of local graduates who are extremely competent and who may be making a lot of money in wages in contrast to some of the overseas graduates. However, as a whole, that may not be the case.

(Just to also point out that while was I an employer, more than 80% of my employees were hired as fresh graduates, of whom, the overwhelming majority of them were local graduates. While it was tough picking out quality graduates, they were certainly there if you look hard enough.)

Kian Ming has also written his views on the often heated subject of "local vs foreign graduates" here.

Here's the press release from Jobstreet:

In a 2008 study of more than 100,000 JobStreet.com members in Malaysia who hold a Bachelors degree and are currently working in the country, JobStreet.com has observed that graduates from overseas universities on average earn about 12 percent more than local graduates.

The salary gap is most apparent among those with up to five years of work experience.

Overseas graduates are earning a significant 20 percent more than their local counterparts. Even after 10 years or more of work experience, the gap is still more than 10 percent.

In terms of job specialization, the biggest salary gap between overseas and local graduates is in business-related fields such as management, economics, finance and marketing where overseas graduates earn about 15 percent more than local graduates.

In the engineering and IT/Computer fields, salaries are about 11 percent higher for overseas graduates.

In a similar study among 20,000 JobStreet.com members in Singapore, it was observed that there is no significant difference between the salaries of graduates from local Singaporean universities and overseas universities even after 5 or 10 years of work experience.

In conclusion, a Malaysian who graduates from a local Malaysian university earns on average a lower salary than those who graduate from an overseas university. There were no significant difference in salaries that exists among graduates in Singapore.

The final conclusion is equally unsurprising, but its a new angle to look at for it certainly demonstrates the disparity between our local versus Singapore's universities.

Call for Interview & Survey Participants!

Just a note from a student seeking assistance from female students in Computer Science and IT to help complete a survey. ;)

Hi, my name is Jinny and I'm currently doing my postgraduate diploma studies with the School of Arts and Sciences in Monash University. I'm doing a research on Malaysian female students in Computer Science and IT Education and I'd like to have a little chat with you about your experiences studying CS/IT! I am conducting a survey and interviews to gather some data for my research on the approaches, experiences and motivations of a female student in CS/IT. These interviews are very integral to my qualitative researching.

What are the benefits of participating in the interview and survey?
Your participation in this research project would greatly contribute to building research in the area of gender, technology and education in a Malaysian context, and hopefully will lay the path to making the Computer Science and IT study experience more enjoyable, rewarding, attractive and friendly to female students! :)

I'm conducting interviews for my research, and if you are:
- Female,
- Malaysian,
- Is a student or a graduate of Computer Science or Information Technology in a private or foreign University,

I'd love to talk to you and hear about your experiences, preferably through face-to-face interviews. If you would like to share your experience with me, drop me an email @ sjwon1@student.monash.edu by 12 August, 2007.

I'm also conducting a survey, it would be really helpful if you could participate in the survey too :) If you are:
- Female,
- Malaysian, and
- Is currently studying Computer Science or Information Technology in a private or foreign University, do head over to http://yoyo.monash.edu.my/assistsurvey/ to complete the survey!

Please do consider making yourself available for the interview or take part in the survey - thank you!

If you have any questions regarding the interview or survey, don't hesitate to ask me directly @ sjwon1@student.monash.edu