Which job offers may mitigate brain drain? An analysis of Italian PhD students

In the global competition for talent, some countries are more vulnerable to brain drain than others. This study investigates the job conditions that talent-producing countries can adopt to mitigate this challenge. Drawing on a discrete choice experiment (DCE), the analysis is based on the stated preferences of PhD students in Italy, a country chronically affected by brain drain such as many others facing the same phenomenon in Europe and around the world. The findings indicate that PhD students, including high research performers, despite facing a context of growing job uncertainty, internationally uncompetitive salaries, scarcity of vacancies, and a constrained national labour market (common push factors for brain drain, which are prevalent in many countries), still prefer to remain in the country rather than migrate. PhDs are reluctant to migrate, even when faced with non-research job offers lacking autonomy and long-term stability. Salary alone is not the primary determinant of migration decisions. Instead, staying is often viewed as accepting a salary or career penalty. PhD students’ preference is to stay in their current country/city to continue their research, even at a lower salary. The study concludes with policy recommendations to reduce brain drain, including guidance for employers on designing job offers that better align with the priorities of PhD holders.