Academic brain drain: Impact and implications for public higher education quality in Kenya

The flight of human capital is a phenomenon that has been of concern to academics and development practitioners for decades. Unfortunately, there is no systematic record of the number of skilled professionals that many African countries have continued to lose to the developed world. Termed the 'brain drain', it represents the loss of highly skilled professionals from a source country to a recipient country. The migration of academics from Kenya has mainly taken two forms: direct migration or settling down after completion of one's studies in a given country. This article critically examines the migration and brain drain in public higher education institutions in Kenya and its implications, and suggests that the institutions should continue to explore strategies on how best to use the skills and experience of emigrant academics, and how to minimise their outflow.