Instead of maturing, the phenomenon of immigration is deteriorating year after year, including recently educated young people who massively want to leave the country.
The results of a survey of 1650 students that were presented today to the President of the Republic by demographic experts, Ilir Gëdeshi, Russell King showed that 79% of students (average age 22 years), who study in Albania intend to emigrate abroad. According to Mr. Gëdeshi, the intention to emigrate is related to the students' perception of their future, as Monitor reports.
On the one hand it is a reflection of the real economic, social and political situation in Albania and, on the other hand, of the potential opportunities in the host country.
In another study published in 2018, Gëdeshi said the indicator of potential emigration from Albania, for the age group 18 to 40 years, was 52%, but its curve peaked in the ages 27-30 years (71.2%) and that those who had a university education wanted more to emigrated.
"New trends show that more young people and the most educated intend to emigrate from Albania," said Gëdeshi.
An important aspect of potential migration is the time frame in which students' goals and desires for migration are realized. According to the survey data, 7% of potential emigrants want to emigrate from Albania before completing their studies, 62% immediately after completing their university studies, and about 27% after a work experience in Albania.
The survey results show that there is a very small difference in the desire for emigration between female students (79.4%) and male students (78.1%). Historically, Albanian emigration has been led by men, while women followed in a later period through family reunification or marriage. This indicator of potential emigration, slightly higher among women (+1.3 percentage points) compared to men (which is also observed in other studies for young people), also shows the high degree of initiative, emancipation and independence of female students.
Branches including most of emigration
The intention to emigrate is higher in some groups of students in certain fields, such as medical students (91.5%) and nursing (83%), informatics (84.4%), engineering (79.2%), and architecture, which is explained with greater employment opportunities in the desired country of emigration.
The high tendency of potential emigration, especially for some groups of students of certain fields, is a concern and should attract the attention of the whole society. This could increase shortages in the upper segment of some much-needed professions in Albania, especially in medicine, says Gëdeshi.