Training Professionals Abroad: A Look at the Formation of the Mexican Political and Scientific Elites

ROMAC is an international network bringing together researchers from Mexico and six countries of North America and Europe on issues of study and academic mobility, elite formation in Mexico and knowledge circulation between countries. We will review and discuss different aspects of our research at HEIs from six developed countries; Canada, USA, France, Germany, Spain and the UK: a) the reasons to study abroad and experiences of Mexicans studying graduate engineering programs abroad; b) the changing trends in the distribution between generations (1996 to 2013) of CONACYT applicants and scholarships between countries and disciplinary fields in the main academic destinations; c) where members of the national research system (SNI) obtained their master's and PhD degrees and the impact of different countries of study on their academic network building and international cooperation; and d) the highest degrees and places of study of government officials from the Calderón and first year of Peña Nieto periods.