Participation Type
Paper
Session Title
Session 11.02 Social Sciences
Presentation #1 Title
Water Runs Downhill: The Realities of Brain Drain in Eastern Kentucky
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Similar to national calls for increases in post-secondary educational attainment, the Commonwealth of Kentucky's educational policy currently focuses on "doubling the numbers" of citizens with baccalaureate degrees. Where do college degrees take Eastern Kentucky graduates? Using analysis of a longitudinal data base that marries person-centered educational and workforce data, this paper examines the realities of Appalachian Kentucky's brain drain. The study tracks the 2005-2006 graduates of all of public and independent college from Kentucky's Appalachian counties for five years after graduation into employment to identify what types of students remain in the region, what types remain, and how home and destination counties, economic opportunities, and individual characteristics factor into the high out-migration rates for college graduates from the region. These data are compared with results from a qualitative study of two Eastern Kentucky high school groups eight years after graduation. Both studies are discussed relative to recent scholarship on rural educational attainment and conceptual understandings of "push" and "pull" factors of out-migration. The problem of out-migration of college graduates from the Appalachian region is not new; however, deeper understanding of the real mobilities of educated Appalachians is needed to understand what is, in essence, a public subsidy of a private good. What opportunities exist in these realities?
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Dr. Jane Jensen holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and Higher Education from Indiana University, Bloomington, and conducts research in rural areas of North America. Her research includes the comparative study of student transitions to post-secondary education in rural regions of Italy and the United States and research on post-secondary educational aspirations and impacts in Appalachia.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Dr. McGrew is the Executive Director of the Kentucky Center for Education and Workforce Statistics. Prior to taking this role, he was the P-20 Director for the Data Quality Campaign, the national organization responsible for encouraging the development and expansion of state data systems. At the Kentucky Council on Post-Secondary Education he supervised the development of the Kentucky Postsecondary Data System, the state postsecondary longitudinal postsecondary data system, an award winning data portal, and creation of the Kentucky High School Feedback Report, which is used nationally as a model for other states.
Water Runs Downhill: The Realities of Brain Drain in Eastern Kentucky
Harris Hall 139
Similar to national calls for increases in post-secondary educational attainment, the Commonwealth of Kentucky's educational policy currently focuses on "doubling the numbers" of citizens with baccalaureate degrees. Where do college degrees take Eastern Kentucky graduates? Using analysis of a longitudinal data base that marries person-centered educational and workforce data, this paper examines the realities of Appalachian Kentucky's brain drain. The study tracks the 2005-2006 graduates of all of public and independent college from Kentucky's Appalachian counties for five years after graduation into employment to identify what types of students remain in the region, what types remain, and how home and destination counties, economic opportunities, and individual characteristics factor into the high out-migration rates for college graduates from the region. These data are compared with results from a qualitative study of two Eastern Kentucky high school groups eight years after graduation. Both studies are discussed relative to recent scholarship on rural educational attainment and conceptual understandings of "push" and "pull" factors of out-migration. The problem of out-migration of college graduates from the Appalachian region is not new; however, deeper understanding of the real mobilities of educated Appalachians is needed to understand what is, in essence, a public subsidy of a private good. What opportunities exist in these realities?
