RE: How perpetual students harm the Greek economy
Very interesting in-depth post! I would like to share some thoughts regarding your post if that's ok:
Regarding the high number of students pursuing higher degrees (you mention 40%). You are mentioning that this number is much higher than most other European countries. I am guessing that this might simply be attributed to the lack of job opportunities for graduate students in Greece.
As a matter of fact, as a Ph.D. student working in Germany (I'm Dutch myself), I've met quite a large number of Greek students that are pursuing a second, or even third masters degree abroad, simply because there is a lack of well paid jobs in their home country.
A good amount of these Greek students I've met are not planning to go back to Greece anytime soon. Typically their first choice is to find a job abroad with a good salary and other benefits. I think this is where a lot of potential is lost for Greece itself.
First, the Greek government invests in their students' bachelor degree, followed by a large number of these student leaving the country due to the lack of jobs and study abroad opportunities. As a result, the invested government money is flowing away into foreign economies by a drain of human capital into other countries.
Such mechanisms I think are really challenging to break by a government that is in the position similar to that of the Greek government.
These are just some thoughts that came up while reading your post. I'm curious about your opinion about what I've written.
Thanks
Thanks, michelmake! Any thoughts and criticism are welcome.
Well, I didn’t say it’s much higher. You can see some of the relevant statistics here, but the figure is indeed around 40%. I don’t know how much higher that is compared to the EU average, but it shouldn't significantly change any of my conclusions, since it's a broad-stroke analysis. But I suppose you’re right: Any difference might be driven by the limited job opportunities in Greece.
That’s true. However, only a small fraction of Greeks pursue a Master’s or Doctorate (either in Greece or abroad). Most either don’t have the skills, or they lack the necessary capital. It’s mostly smart students with multiple nationalities and/or well-off parents that can do it. From my own experience, I’d say only between 10 and 20% of Greek students fall into the category you’ve encountered. This is supported by several Greek university department evaluations, such as this one.
Interestingly enough, the aforementioned percentage happens to more-or-less coincide with the fraction of people with an IQ that’s at least 1 sigma above the mean. In hindsight I don’t think that’s really surprising, given how tightly IQ correlates with things like education level, income, and job performance. But of course it’s taboo to talk about human intelligence.
Ah yes, the infamous brain drain. I happen to belong to the same category of people, and I share the same sentiments for the reasons you mentioned. There’s two more personal reasons I’d like to add: political instability and outdated social structure. The 80–90% that stay behind are the perpetual students, which have to be eliminated. They’re worse than a brain drain in the short term, plus their effect is rather easily quantifiable.
I’m fully with you on this one: Brain drains suck for the economy, for the reason you mentioned. However, the capital lost by a brain drain is harder to estimate and is only felt at least half a decade later (when students finish their studies and start a job abroad). It seems to me that dealing with perpetual students is easier than preventing bright students from leaving.
I hope I adequately covered most of your points, and would love to hear any further thoughts you might have on the subject.