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British science could face a new brain drain next year as science and
engineering graduates take advantage of the single European market and leave
Britain for better paid jobs elsewhere in Europe. This warning comes from
the Advisory Committee on Science and Technology (ACOST) in a report published
last week by the Cabinet Office.

According to the working group which prepared the report, the loss of
young trained scientists after 1992 ‘could represent a major problem for
the UK in the near future’. The Department of Education and Science is urged
to take ‘urgent action’ to address this possibility.

The report points out that the declining number of young people entering
the job market across the European Community means that there will be increasing
competition for the most able. It lists a number of reasons why British
undergraduates in particular are likely to be attractive to European employers.

Because degree courses are often shorter in Britain, graduates ‘become
available when the motivation and freedom to travel is highest’. Some prospective
employers may also see the English language as a positive advantage. The
report also points out that ‘salaries in the UK are relatively low, increasing
the incentive to seek employment elsewhere’.

The ACOST working group, chaired by John Robertson, professor of electrical
engineering at the University of Edinburgh, says that the problems the drain
of graduates could cause are serious enough to merit preparing a strategy
to make good the loss.

Overall, the working party says, positive steps must be taken to make
careers in Britain more attractive. In particular, it suggests developing
career opportunities in multinational organisations. This would mean ‘integration
of opportunity irrespective of nationality’, removing one of the main driving
forces of migration.

The government has reacted sceptically to the warning. The DES argues
that the increased mobility of qualified scientists and engineers ‘is likely
to be beneficial both from a national and a European viewpoint’.

ACOST’s conclusions are not yet borne out by data on the destination
of graduates, says the DES. As a result, it says, it is ‘not convinced’
that 1992 will bring a net loss of new graduates from the country.

The ACOST report also says that 1992 provides a ‘decisive one-off opportunity’
to strengthen the country’s capability in strategic research and manufacturing
by persuading international companies to establish research and development
facilities in Britain. It urges the government to ‘seize the opportunity’.