Susan Wojcicki, Steve Wozniak, Jacek Tramiel – they are experts from the technology industry, who contributed to the success of such projects as: You Tube, Apple and Commodore. Poles and descendants of Polish emigrants still have a huge impact on the development of the technological industry around the world, which confirms the „E-Migration. Polish technological diaspora” research study, conducted by the Emigration Museum in Gdynia, PLUGin Polish Innovation Diaspora, in cooperation with Inny Format in 2018-2019. The second edition of this study starts in mid-October 2020.

The project initiated by the Emigration Museum in Gdynia was innovative. It was the first comprehensive study of Poles and people with Polish roots, who operate abroad in broadly understood modern sectors of the economy. The idea was to collect basic data on their life and professional situation, so as to be able to make general characteristics of the studied group on that basis. The areas covered included: the socio-demographic dimension, professional and family situation, migration experiences, social and professional relations on emigration, sense of identity and ties with the country, the prospect of returning to Poland and cooperation with institutions, organizations and individuals from Poland.

The initiative was implemented in two stages. The first stage consisted of quantitative research in the form of an online survey. The second stage was qualitative research in the form of in-depth interviews.

What were the results of the study?

The first pilot edition of the „E-migration. Polish technological diaspora” research study has brought many interesting information about Polish professionals living and working abroad. We have learned to a large extent about their attitude towards emigration, shaping private and professional contacts, plans for a possible return to Poland or cooperation with institutions, organizations and individuals operating in our country.

Almost 83 percent of respondents from this group declare their stay abroad as „permanent”, while 55 percent maintains contacts mainly with native residents of the country of emigration or immigrants, regardless of their nationality. Less than half of them – 49 percent think about possible return to Poland, with only 8 percent having specific plans in this regard. It allowed us to reconstruct the trends in the lifestyle and professional strategies dominating in the studied group. The obtained data clearly shows an image of people strongly oriented towards professional development, ambitious, constantly setting themselves challenges and consistently striving to implement them. At the same time, they are open-minded, curious about the world and quite easily establish social contacts. It is worth noting, that the vast majority of respondents shared high level of self-reflection on their own stay abroad and general trends related to the latest Polish wave of emigration, says Dr. Rafał Raczyński from the Emigration Museum in Gdynia, one of the co-authors of the study.

The entire project was summarized in the publication entitled E-migration. Polish technological diaspora. The research report can be downloaded free of charge at www.e-migracja.eu The great interest in the research from the media and industry sectors as well as the respondents themselves prompted the initiators to continue the project in the years 2020-2021.

– In order to deepen the study of trends and obtain comparative data, it is necessary to continue the project. For the purposes of the second edition of the study, we modified the research tools and supplemented it with new questions relating to the current situation, e.g. to what extent did the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic affect the private and professional life of the study group, or issues related to migration stereotypes, ” says Sebastian Tyrakowski , one of the co-authors, Deputy Director of the Emigration Museum in Gdynia.

Who will be able to take part in the second edition of the „E-migration. Polish technological diaspora” research study?

– We invite Polish emigrants, people with Polish roots and Polish transmigrants, expats or modern nomads, who work on projects abroad in modern sectors of the economy to participate in the study – adds Sebastian Tyrakowski.

The study is aimed at qualified employees – members of the Polish diaspora employed in modern sectors of the economy, such as: ICT, finance, art and entertainment, consulting, marketing, media, physics and science, real estate, tourism, transport and logistics, computer and mobile games, databases and big data (so-called warehousing), start-ups regardless of the industry as well as biotechnology and medical engineering.

The research study will end this year and we will know its results next year.

Take part in the „E-migration. Polish technological diaspora” research study. Please visit: http://e-migracja.eu