Brain Drain: A Threat or an Opportunity

The willingness to move abroad (either for some time or for good) is influenced by a number of factors. The usual interest of researchers is to find which factors influence young people and make them go abroad. This study, on the contrary, aims to determine which obstacles (barriers) prevent them in their decisions to go abroad. The research sample was made up of students with an economic specialization who study at regional public universities in Germany and in the Czech Republic (n = 503). On the basis of stepwise forward logical regression, two barriers have been found in German students that prevent them from going abroad the most. They are the following: "I do not want to leave Germany" and "I do not want to leave the place where I live". In Czech students, two barriers have also been identified. The first one is the language barrier, and the second one is the same as the German sample: "I do not want to leave the Czech Republic". A strong relation to their home country awakens the hope that if they leave the country for the purpose of work, they will have a tendency to return in the future.