Professor Omar Rahman
Professor Rahman is a member of the faculty at the Independent University, of Bangladesh (IUB). He is also a returnee professional Migrant from America where he studied and worked at Harvard University.

I left Bangladesh at the age of 18 and came back when I was 46. I Was away for a total of 28 years and have spent more time abroad Than I have spent in Bangladesh. It might sound strange but I never Really intended to stay that long, I just went with the flow. I did Not go there with the intent to stay, my plan was to complete my Education, get skills and training and then come back. But for a Variety of reasons, largely circumstantial, I stayed on.

The main reason behind my coming back was my belief that there are Some opportunities in Bangladesh that are distinct and which could not be duplicated in the West. I suspect that the desire to have a greater impact on society is one significant reason, at least for some people, to return.

I was interested in doing some cross-disciplinary work and I felt that the situation in Bangladesh would be more amenable to this.
There was little scope for doing this in the US because in the more mature academic environment there people are more strictly segmented into various fields.

Another important consideration for me was the issue of policy relevance. A lot of my work is on rural Bangladesh, particularly the importance of social networks and social capital in the countryside, and I felt that I needed to be closer to the locus of my work. Of course, it was not really so much an intellectual argument as an emotional argument, but this also played a role in my decision.

Career advancement has been another factor. This is what I call the big fish in a small pond argument. Compared to the academic world where I worked in the US, Bangladesh is a smaller pond with fewer institutional infrastructures. Thus, when one is setting up something in Bangladesh one can have more of an impact. Last but not least, it is important for us to recognize that sometimes people come back because they do not have appropriate opportunities abroad. The job market is tightening and it has become much more competitive.

Here, I must say, that there are two things that have made a big difference: the first is the issue of connectivity. The Internet has made a huge difference and without it I do not think I would have come back ten years ago. Geographical location is no longer crucial and interestingly technology really has brought the world closer.

The second is the issue of having junior colleagues and adequate research manpower. Much research nowadays is a team effort.
Generally, you cannot do it by yourself unless you are working on mathematics or theoretical physics where you are essentially on your own. Most empirical work requires teamwork and you need to have other people involved and around to offer support.

Personal factors also influence the decision to return. I think, first and foremost, we come back for ourselves. We are either unable or unwilling to assimilate into the foreign environment. We miss the cultural life and life with our friends. In many ways, one of the most difficult psychological barriers that one needs to overcome in order to come back is how one sees oneself. If one is perfectly happy seeing him or herself as an American, European or member of whichever country one is situated in, then he or she is much less likely to come back.

The issues of identity, heritage and values, particularly in the case of children, become important considerations for some. If
children grow up in America, they might be American Bangladeshis, but they are going to be primarily Americans. This is a source of great concern for some parents. Then of course there is also what I call the fear of 'cultural contamination' - drugs, sex and rock n' roll. People have had numerous conversations with me concerning how decadent the west is and their apprehension that their children were going to be exposed to all these non-traditional influences. It is a particularly interesting issue in the context of their daughters. Often successful migrants suffer from the dilemma of whether to allow their daughters to date or not and become reconciled to this kind of socialisation. Those who are deeply concerned about the issue and are prepared to take a decision, often come back when their children are around 16 years old.

Then of course people also come back for family reasons, particularly in order to be with aging parents. It is true that
internet and telecommunication facilities have improved significantly, but one cannot make up for an absence by just calling
on the phone or trying to arrange better health care.

There are also many constraints placed on academics that encourage them not to come back. I think the single most important concern is not being able to make a decent living. I accept that this is very individually specific. Another issue is the lack of career
advancement. This, I think, is a very big issue and it is not just about money. It is more about work environment, the sense of work being valued, feeling that you can do good work and you can move ahead. This is where I think the private university sector has really helped in Bangladesh. Prior to the development of the private university sector, there was no way that someone who has spent many years abroad, would have the scope to come back because there was no lateral hiring.

Lack of scope in your professional field is another constraint. Clearly there are things that one cannot do here in Bangladesh. If one was doing highly technical work abroad he/she would have to give that up. Where technology does not exist there is an absolute constraint, but this argument is becoming less and less valid as technology improves and becomes more available.

I must say that ten years ago I would have called upon the same argument. I think, at least up to High School level, one can get a
reasonably good international standard of education, at least in the big urban centres of Bangladesh. People do worry about the standards of education and part of my hope in coming back from the West is to help build a higher education sector where one can have the expectation of high quality education up to Undergraduate level.

Then there is the issue of a lack of health care facilities. People are concerned that if their child will get sick, they are scared that he/she has asthma, or worried that there will be an accident. My argument is that you should not delay coming back in the fear that something a low probability event, may or may not happen.

Then there is the issue of maintaining a good life, which I think is really no longer a major issue in the globalised consumer world. You can get anything here, and this is a new phenomenon for Bangladesh arising out of the last 5-10 years. I tell people that there is nothing that I would want to buy in the US that I can't get here. Perhaps it is as expensive, but the lifestyle doesn't really change
that much.

I think in the end people come back for very personal reasons. I don't think money is really the big constraint. I think people come
back because they feel they can do something and make a change.