Migratory Moods and Temporary Employment of Students of Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

The article is devoted to the research and analysis of the migratory moods of students of higher education institutions of Central and Eastern Europe and their temporary employment (paid work and volunteering) during studies as an important factor of their life prospects. Countries that are interested in ‘brain gain’ and know their economic cost are pursuing an active and purposeful migration policy to attract highly qualified specialists from developing countries. These countries have a facade of the democratic regime, general inefficiency of economies, the decline in the level of culture and education in society, corruption, criminal capitalism, the ‘oligarchic’ concept of governance, all of which become the push factors driving the migration of young people with higher and post-university education.The results of the international study are based on a sample database of surveyed students in the 2018/19 academic year in the Eastern higher education regions of the European Higher Education Area. The study was conducted in higher education institutions in five countries (Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine, Serbia and Hungary). According to the study results, the more economically developed country the lower the level of migratory moods of young people. They rather tend to plan to leave the country for a short time for training and gaining work experience. More than half of the students in Hungary, Slovakia and almost half of the students in Ukraine do paid work, while most Romanian students volunteer. The work done by Ukrainian students is most often related to their field of study, while Hungarian students make up the largest proportion of those whose work is not related to study. Based on the results of the research, we observe that the respondents’ professional plans are directed towards external labor migration, which will negatively affect the economic development of the regions due to the loss of prospective workforce.