Survey on Albanian Students Studying Abroad

November 2005 - June 2006

Authors: Dorian Kçira, Endri Deliu, Orges Deliu

 

Abstract

Between November 2005 and June 2006 an online survey was conducted with Albanian students studying abroad. The most interesting result of the survey was the tendency of the students to return home after graduation. More than half of the students are still undecided whether they will return. Around 15% intend to live between another country and their home country, and only 10% intend to return. The results of this survey can help delineate a strategy to spur a "brain gain" process.

 

 

Supported by:

International Network of Albanian Student Associations

 

 

Contact:

pyetesor@albstudent.net

 

 

 

 

Index

 

 

 

1. Introduction
2. Collection of the data sample
3. Margin of error and confidence interval
4. All the students
5. Students from Albania
6. Students from Kosova
7. Students from Macedonia
8. Conclusions

 

 

 

 

Note

Usage of this document is allowed only if the source is quoted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Introduction

Between November 2005 and June 2006 an online survey was conducted with Albanian undergraduate (bachelor) and graduate (master, doctoral) students that were studying in foreign countries (countries except Albania, Kosova, Macedonia). 704 undergraduate and graduate students from Albania, Kosova and Macedonia participated.

The survey was supported by the AlbStudent organization network. AlbStudent is the International Network of Albanian Student Associations. This network includes some of the largest and most active Albanian student associations abroad.

One of the goals of this survey is the collection of basic information concerning Albanian students abroad, specifically information on the student's gender, age, subject etc. The main goal of the survey is, however, to quantify the current intention of albanian students abroad for returning to their home country after graduation. Information on such intention is of particular importance for the current efforts of the Albanian society to understand the dynamics of the "brain drain" processes that have started since the fall of the iron curtain.

In the sections below, the collection of data and the calculation of the margin of error is presented. Results from the whole sample as well as specific results from subgroups follow.

The majority of the tables and grafics referred in this article can be found at the end of the document. Throughout this article we will use the term students or participants as a general denotation that refers all undergraduate and graduate students.

2. Collection of the data

The survey was conducted online consisting of a small number of questions which were answered from the participants. The request to participate in the survey was distributed in the main mailinglists of Albanian students studying abroad. Participation in the survey was purely voluntary, without incentives or other forms of compensation. Considering that:

• almost all Albanian students abroad have internet and email access;
• collection of the data is made randomly;

we believe that the sample analysed in this article is representative for Albanian students abroad.

The request for participation in this survey was published on the internet sites and the respective mailinglists of:

• AlbStudent, www.albstudent.net
• Illyria (Hamburg), www.illyria.de
• Rinia (Vienna), www.albrinia.com
• New AGE (Milan), www.newgera.org
• Voxaquila (Parma), www.voxaquila.org
• USAB (Bologna), www.albos.org/usab
• Studenti (Zurich), www.studenti-zh.ch
• ASAB (Bari),www.asab.it
• KSSHN (Oslo), www.albaner.no/al/
• Alb-Shkenca, www.alb-shkenca.org

Participants of this survey are mainly members in the mailinglists of the obove organizations.

The distribution of the participants from Albania, Kosova and Macedonia regarding the countries where they study is presented respectively in Table 2.0, 2.1, 2.2.

3. Margin of error and confidence interval

The data used in this survey are extracted from the answers of 704 participants. As expected, the majority of the participants are from Albania, Kosova and Macedonia. The number of participants from other countries/regions (Medvegje, Bujanoc, etc.) is too small to make relevant statistical assertions. Thus, this group is not handled separately.

Table 3.0: Country of birth and the respective margin error.
Country of birth	Participants	Margin of error
Albania	475	4.49%
Kosova	159	7.77%
Macedonia	52	13.59%
Serbia/Montentegro (Preshevë, Medvegjë, Bujanoc)	9	-
Other	9	-
All	704	3.69%

The margin of error for this survey was calculated using the binomial distribution. The margin of error is an estimation of the variations in the results of repeated measurements. The smaller the margin of error, the more confident we can be that the measured values are closer to the real values. Thus, margin of error represents the predictive value of the survey. The margin of error for each of the main groups of participants as well as for the whole group of participants is presented in Table 3.0

The confidence interval used in this survey was the standard one, 95%.

4. Results for all participants

In this section three results are presented for all the participants of the survey:

1. Gender;
2. Academic subject;
3. Intention after graduation.

In the third point participants had to answer the question of what their intentions were after finishing their academic studies regarding the return in their home countries. Participants could choose between four options:

• They intend to return in their home countries;
• They do not intend to return in their home countries;
• They intend to live between their home countries and another country;
• They are undecided.

The results on the above data are presented in Table 4.0, 4.1, 4.2 and in the respective charts.

5. Results for participants from Albania

In this section the results for the participants from Albania are presented. The number of these participants is 475. Besides the results on gender, subject and Intention after finishing their academic studies, additional results on the participants are presented inculding:

1. Year of birth;
2. City/region where participants graduated from high scool or gymnasium;
3. Time left to finish their academic studies.

The results on all above points are presented in Table 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5 and in their respective charts.

6. Results for participants from Kosova

Results for the participants from Kosova are presented in this section. The number of these participants is 159. The results include:

1. Gender;
2. Academic subject;
3. Year of birth;
4. Intention after graduation.

The results of the above points are presented in Table 6.0, 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 and in their respective charts.

7. Results for participants from Macedonia

Results for the participants from Macedonia are presented in this section. The number of these participants is 52. The results include:

1. Gender;
2. Intention after graduation.

These results are presented in Table 7.0, 7.1 and in the respective charts.

8. Conclusions

As can be seen from the respective tables and charts there is a different situation concerning the gender of the students. While in the subgroup of students from Albania the percentage of females is slightly higher than that of males, in the subgroup of students from Kosova, male students obviously dominate.

The results still show parallels between students from Albania and those from Kosova in their academic subjects. At this point it is interesting to emphasize the small percentage of students which study natural sciences, computer sciences or engineering (around 18%) compared to those who study economical sciences or humanities.

Students from Albania come mainly from the high schools of Tirana, followed distantly by the high schools of Shkodra, Durrës, Vlora, Elbasan, Fier and Korça.

The most interesting result of this survey is the tendency that students show concerning their intention to return home after finishing their academic studies. Over 50% are undecided. Nearly a quarter intend to return and 15% intend to live between another country and their home country. Only approximately 10% do not intend to return.

The undecided and those who do not intend to return have similar percentages among the various subgroups (students from Albania, Kosova, Macedonia). The students from Albania are somewhat more inklined towards returning home while students from Kosova and Macedonia have a larger percentage of those who intend to live between another country and their home country.

The large percentage of the undecided students emphasizes in our opinion an important tendency which transcends differences between students from Albania, Kosova and Macedonia. It must be taken into account that such tendency may change with time in one direction or another. The creation of facilities and the support for the reintegration of these students in their home countries after their graduation could contribute in shifting the current tendency towards the return of the students as well as settle a dynamic balance between those leaving their country to study abroad and those that return after graduation.

At this point we would like to thank AlbStudent for its support as well as all the participants for their contribution in the realization of this survey.

The authors, October 2006.