Educational Planning for Talent Student Retention: Analyzing Factors Influencing Student Migration and Prioritizing Strategies

Document Type : research article

Authors

1 Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran

2 Department of, Faculty of Humanities, Ilam University, Ilam, Iran

3 Department of Chemistry Education, P.O. Box 889-14665, Tehran, Iran

4 Department of Educational Sciences, Farhangian University, P.O. Box 889-14665, Tehran, Iran

10.22080/eps.2026.31779.2416

Abstract

Aim: One of the most significant challenges facing the country's educational system is the lack of understanding and planning regarding the retention and attraction of gifted students. Accordingly, this article examines the factors influencing emigration among gifted students and explores strategies to mitigate this trend, approaching the issue from an educational planning perspective.
Methodology: This research is a survey-based, mixed-methods exploratory study, and the statistical population comprises elite students from different high school levels across the country. Using cluster and random purposeful sampling, 326 people were selected, and data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire based on the findings of the qualitative phase and analyzed with SPSS26 software.
Results: Among the causal factors of the tendency to migrate, individual and occupational components, emotional and motivational motives, talent development, and job security played a more prominent role. In the context conditions, academic and social factors had a greater impact than family factors, and in the intervention conditions, economic and political factors were identified as influential variables. In the strategies section, strategies related to improving social, academic, and occupational conditions had a higher priority than other strategies.
Conclusions and suggestions: The motivation and tendency to migrate is more of a social issue than an individual one, and it is expected that, given the results of this research, political-economic and educational institutions will have proper and appropriate planning in managing this challenge.
Innovation and originality: This article, with a new approach, attempts to discover the grounds and causes of the tendency of elite students and to present solutions based on those results, as well as sound educational planning, to maintain and sustain them.

Keywords

Main Subjects


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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 06 September 2026
  • Receive Date: 25 May 2026
  • Revise Date: 25 June 2026
  • Accept Date: 01 July 2026