Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Haniyeh Doodmani-maleki ¹
• Houshang Taghizadeh ²

¹ PhD Student in Human Resource management, Department of Management, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran

² Professor, Department of Management, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to validate a conceptual model for retaining academic human capital in the context of elite migration, based on the perspectives of talented postgraduate students at the University of Tabriz.
Methodology: The research was applied in nature and conducted through a descriptive–survey design. The statistical population comprised 217 talented postgraduate students, selected using stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a 65-item questionnaire, and analyzed with SmartPLS 3 software. Reliability and validity were confirmed through Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, and convergent/divergent validity indices.
Findings: The proposed model demonstrated acceptable reliability and validity, and most hypothesized relationships were supported. In the final model, motivational–psychological factors (academic satisfaction, sense of belonging, study–life balance), social–supportive factors (sense of integration into the academic community, strong peer interactions), and institutional policies (employment support, positive organizational culture) significantly reduced the intention to migrate. Conversely, managerial–executive weaknesses, structural–economic instability, and socio-political factors emerged as major push factors. Importantly, all indicators related to “effective teaching and learning” and several intrinsic motivational and infrastructural items were eliminated from the final model.
Conclusion: Findings indicate that, unlike much of the Western literature, educational and instructional factors are not decisive in retaining talented students in Iran. Instead, economic, managerial, and socio-political factors play the dominant role in shaping migration intentions.
Value: This study is the first systematic attempt in Iran to validate a comprehensive indigenous model of academic talent retention using a combined meta-synthesis and SEM approach.

Keywords

• Academic Human Capital Retention
• Elite Migration
• Talented Postgraduate Students
• Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM)
• Motivational and Social-Supportive Factors

Main Subjects

• Sociological and Anthropological Dimensions of Data, Information and Knowledge Studies