Globally, over 6 million graduates from developing countries study abroad each year, many through scholarships and sponsored mobility programs, yet 80% face limited job opportunities upon returning to their home countries, despite their world-class education (UNESCO, 2023). Most are academically trained to seek employment rather than create jobs, as traditional education systems transfer knowledge but do not build creativity, purpose, or entrepreneurial capability (ILO, 2024).

As a result, talented alumni like ourselves and many other scholarship graduates become underutilized, frustrated, and unable to turn their education into real-world impact. If nothing changes, these graduates will continue to become “over-educated but underutilized,” deepening skill mismatches, frustration, and brain drain when innovation and job creation are most urgently needed (UNESCO IESALC, 2022).