Štefan Rehák, ‘Universities as Elevators: Education and Migration of Human Capital in Slovakia’

Since 1990 there has been a sharp rise in the Slovak higher education sector. The number of students has increased fourfold, the number of universities has doubled and new universities have been established in smaller towns. Despite this trend, Slovakia still faces emigration of the university-educated population. This has negative implications for the country’s future economic development. This talk will address the key drivers of today’s “brain drain” in the region, while analyzing the impact of individual characteristics, family background and the wider socio-economic environment on people’s decision to seek employment abroad. This lecture is part of the Visegrad talk series hosted by the Center for Slavic, Eurasian and East European Studies