Educational Migration in the Republic of Mordovia

Introduction. The article is devoted to the actual problem of youth educational migration – a key factor influencing the personnel potential of the region. The purpose of the article is to identify the specifics of youth educational migration from the Republic of Mordovia, to determine the emerging type of migration in comparison with other regions, and to formulate proposals for the needs of regional development. Materials and Methods. The empirical basis of the article is demographic data on interregional migration for 2017–2021 in the context of ages (17–27 years old), databases of “educational data” based on the results of the Unified State Examination and admission to universities of applicants. General statistical methods and approaches were used, data processing and visualization in the pivot tables and charts was carried out, application software and libraries of the Python language (numpy, pandas, matplotlib) were used. The tools made it possible to identify migration indicators in relation to the region, analyze them, and visualize the parameters of educational migration. Results. It has been established that until recently the Republic of Mordovia was a donor region for educational youth migration. However, since 2018–2020, there has been a trend towards the transition to the position of a “transit” region: the balance of migration of 20–22 year olds and older is negative, but the balance of migration of 17–19 year olds is positive. The directions and proportions of educational migration have been established in relation to the entire contingent of graduates and certain categories. A number of assumptions and hypotheses are put forward for subsequent verification on the entire general population (“big data”) of applicants in the Russian Federation. Discussion and Conclusion. The objective conditions of the “post-COVID” reality and external restrictions in terms of educational migration can significantly increase the role of regions. Achieving a “balance” state with compensation for outgoing migration, the preservation and renewal of human capital seems possible. The data on educational migration by region, principles of analysis and conclusions will be useful both for researchers in the field of data science, migration processes, the sociology of education, and for educational and social authorities to adjust forecasts and regional development projects. A similar study can be carried out for other regions of the Russian Federation in comparison with the trends and patterns identified in the Republic of Mordovia.