The new phase of globalization and brain drain: Migration of educated and skilled Iranians to the United States

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on “brain drain,” or emigration of educated and skilled individuals to the USA from one Southwest Asian nation, Iran, which has experienced fundamental social changes since the early 1970s. The author examines the profile of the educated Iranian emigrants particularly in the last two decades, internal and external socio-economic and political forces and processes that have facilitated emigration, and costs and benefits for both sending and receiving countries. Design/methodology/approach – Building on earlier world-system and dependency theories the author traces the roots of center-periphery relations that have triggered emigration, and applies David Harvey's analysis of the new phase of globalization (post-Fordist flexible production) to distinguish the emigration dynamics of Iran's educated individuals during the 1950-1980 period from those of the last three decades (since the 1979 Iranian revolution). Findings – The findings indicate that while in the former period (1950-1980) educated Iranians emigrated to further their education and sharpen their skills as sojourners, with the expectation that they will return to Iran and serve their nation, emigrants in the latter period (1980-present) are guided by a new culture of the post-Fordist globalization phase that thrives on the mobility of a highly skilled and educated global labour force that can be promptly and efficiently utilized wherever there is a demand. Similar to some other nationalities, the post-Fordist educated Iranian emigrants are no longer constrained by the nationalist sentiments of the previous period. Rather, they have developed an “internationalist national identity” that allows them to respond to the demands of a global market while still maintaining their Iranian cultural identity. Originality/value – This is an original research based on documentation and personal interviews of a non-random sample of Iranian students at the University of Iowa.