The global competition for talent: Life science and biotech careers, international mobility, and competitiveness

This study argues that skilled human mobility and specifically that for occupations linked to innovation, such as for science and technology, has undergone a rapid and continuing internationalization. This change has theoretical implications and requires a greater merging of theories in diverse disciplines. The main premise of the study is that the ‘global competition for talent’ has come into play in media, policy, and migration research, but more as a catchword rather than as an intricately defined concept or theory that pays attention to both the more ‘global’ changes as well as the particularities of career and country or regional contexts. The research aims to begin closing this gap by discussing the theoretical frameworks and changes surrounding international skilled labor and student mobility, developing a more integrated framework for assessing the now only speculative global competition for talent (the people, place, productivity and policy or 4P framework), and looking at variations through a case study, focusing on life scientists. The data on life scientists draws largely on the Careers in Life Sciences (CiLS) survey, which was conducted online in partnership with the Young European Biotech Network and was completed by 594 individuals from 69 countries, including both developing and developed countries. By examining the changing characteristics of life scientists and their career preferences, new insights are provided on life scientists’ attitudes toward international mobility and preferred destination choices in global context.