The IIT Bombay alumnus is a rare creature, native to the marshy swamps of Powai. But over the last few decades the IITB alum has migrated to all parts of the world, constantly adapting to its new-found habitat. As avid zoologists enthu punters data scientists, we’ve foraged through the wilds and mapped out the creature’s nesting habits across the globe.
Let’s start with the country they reside in. Preferences have changed over the years, and the specimens who graduated in or before 2000 have been dubbed ‘pre2000’, while their newer counterparts, ‘post2000’.
As we can see, a significant percentage (~40%) of our alumni who graduated before 2000 have settled abroad. This number drops down sharply to <16% post 2000, which seems surprising.
But ‘abroad’ is a big term. Let’s look at exactly where in the world our alumni live.
As expected, most alumni live in India. USA takes up a good chunk of the second bar. In fact, four in every five alumni living abroad live in the United States.
But, over the years, has the brain-drain problem really changed for the better?
In recent times, alumni seem to prefer US less and less. Most of the slack has been picked up by India. This can be attributed to the rising opportunities in India, research and industry wise.
Here’s how the global distribution of alumni has changed over the years:
While the US dominated the charts in the past, recent times have seen a significant increase in the number of alumni in other nations. The main beneficiaries of this attrition from the States have been countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Let’s have a better look at the scenario back home.
Mumbai is clearly the city of choice for the IITB alum within India. 29% of all IITB alumni who have graduated till date are currently residing in Mumbai. Another surprising element is Pune’s third position in the charts. As a matter of fact, more than half of our alumni living in India currently are settled in Maharashtra. Cities like Bengaluru and Hyderabad have also gained good numbers in the recent years due to the IT boom.
Some other interesting facts that we found out
• A majority of the Alumni in Kolkata are from the departments of Earth Sciences, Chemistry and Energy, which is unsurprising considering the fact that the cityscape and its surroundings are dotted with relevant industries.
• Considering the Middle Eastern countries are among the global hubs for infrastructural development and innovation, it is not surprising that nearly 30% of our alumni there are Civil engineers.
• Around 50% of our Chemical Engineering alumni who are in India have settled down in Mumbai.We will soon be releasing another analysis of the work-sectors and job-profiles that our alumni are currently in.
We would love to hear from you on what more insights would be of interest pertaining to the alumni community. As for our alumni, we wish you the best, wherever you are. Remember, we know exactly where to find you.
Footnotes
1. Data from close to 20,000 alumni was used. All data used was provided courtesy of the institute.
2. All data obtained is through voluntary self-reporting, and may contain some inaccuracies or biases.
3. We have taken utmost care to ensure anonymity and privacy of all the individuals involved. Please share your concerns if you have any.
Insight Editorial Team
Interesting and Insightful, thanks for sharing. Keep up the good work Insight, IITB!
Interesting to know.
really great insight ! thanks alot for this article. Waiting to see branch wise details too.
Very informative article. Would like to see a lot more of such pieces.
Is it the current city of residence or where they went to pursue higher studies. Because I find it tough to believe it.
Interesting article
Interesting statics. Still people think that there is brain drain problem with IITians (Specially Mumbai).
It is their most recent city of residence.
Good work and analysis done by team of insight!
Nice!
So Alumni Cell, IITB updates the location of its alumni?
Here in KGP its voluntary updating – hence the issues in doing a similar thingy!
Great job though! 😀