Educational professionals
In 2014, reports emerged showing a high number of education professionals taking flight from educational positions in Venezuela along with the millions of other Venezuelans that had left the country during the presidency of Hugo Chávez, according to Iván de la Vega, a sociologist at Simón Bolívar University. According to the Association of Professors, the Central University of Venezuela lost around 700 faculty members between 2011 and 2012 with most being considered the next generation of professors. About 240 faculty members also quit at Simón Bolívar University. The reason for emigration is reportedly due to the high crime rate in Venezuela and inadequate pay.
According to Claudio Bifano, president of the Venezuelan Academy of Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, most of Venezuela's "technology and scientific capacity, built up over half a century" had been lost during Hugo Chávez's presidency. Bifano acknowledges the large funds and scientific staff, but states that the output of those scientists had dropped significantly. Bifano reports that between 2008 and 2012, international journals declined by 40%; with journals matching the same number as 1997, when Venezuela had about a quarter of scientists. He also says that more than half of medical graduates of 2013 had left the country.
According to El Nacional, the flight of educational professionals resulted in a shortage of teachers in Venezuela. Director of the Centre for Cultural Research and Education, Mariano Herrera, estimated that there was a shortage of about 40% of teachers for mathematics and science classes. Some teachers and schools resulted to teaching multiple classes, and passing students out of convenience. The Venezuelan government seeks to curb the shortage of teachers through the Simón Rodríguez Micromission by cutting the graduation requirements of educational professional to 2 years.
College graduates
In a study titled Venezolana Community Abroad. A New Method of Exile by Thomas Paez, Mercedes Vivas and Juan Rafael Pulido of the Central University of Venezuela, over 1.5 million Venezuelans, between 4% and 6% of the Venezuela's population, left the country following the Bolivarian Revolution; more than 90% of those who left were college graduates, with 40% holding a Master's degree and 12% having a doctorates and post doctorates. The study used official verification of data from outside of Venezuela and surveys from hundreds of former Venezuelans. Of those involved in the study, reasons for leaving Venezuela included lacking of freedom, high levels of insecurity and lacking opportunity in the country. Paez also explains how some parents in Venezuela tell their children to leave the country out of protection due to the insecurities Venezuelans face.