Evaluation of fellowships awarded to developing countries — What do the studies tell?

Despite the expansion in the developing countries of institutions of higher education the award of fellowships to nationals from these countries for study abroad, in particular in developed countries, is still important. In order to learn about the effectiveness of various elements of the fellowship programmes - for example, the selection process, the relevance and use of the training, and the brain drain - many donor agencies as well as a few recipient countries have evaluated the activity. However, as most of these studies are never published, there is very little readily available information about the outcome of the fellowship training. Against this background, the present article analyses and discusses the findings of a number of evaluations undertaken. The analysis points out the more important problem areas in the activity. It also draws attention to some methodological issues which, if not considered, may invalidate the findings of studies.