As the country faces its most serious economic recession in years, the rate of young, well-educated professionals settling in Upstate New York is reaching critically low levels, creating a brain drain in the region, according to some University faculty members.

Prof. David Brown, developmental sociology, said that the issue is often misunderstood. The “brain drain” in reality is an “insufficient brain gain,” according to Brown, who sees the high numbers of recent college graduates leaving their home and college towns behind as nothing unusual, simply as a reflection of a nation-wide phenomenon.

“The brain drain problem is not that young talented professionals are moving out of our region. The real issue is [that] they are not moving in.”

Prof. Deborah Streeter, applied economics and management, agreed.

“Why are we not attracting young professionals?” Streeter asked.

Streeter said that the brain drain in the Ithaca area may stem from a lack of student involvement in the community. The relationship of Cornell students to the surrounding city is, in many cases, poor, according to Streeter.

For both Brown and Streeter, the brain drain has presented one central query — what is needed to attract young, well-educated professionals?

To answer this question, Brown is currently surveying recent regional high school graduates about where they plan to initiate their careers. The survey’s preliminary results, Brown said, reveal that scarce job opportunities are not the only reason young talents are leaving their hometowns in Upstate New York. “ Our region’s poor housing options, social opportunities and transportation systems also have an important say upon the graduates decision to migrate,” Brown said.

Streeter agreed with Brown’s strategy, arguing that young graduates’ input is the best source of information-gathering.

For this reason, Streeter participated this past weekend as one of the University’s faculty representatives in the “Work/Play/Stay,” conference at Syracuse University. The three-day event joined 36 students from the University of Rochester, Syracuse University and Cornell to find creative solutions to stop the flight of student talent post-graduation.

According to Streeter, the conference tried to “understanding and looking for ways of overcoming the barriers recent college graduates for beginning business in our areas.”

Phoebe Yu ’12, one of Cornell’s representatives at the conference, said she believes the “Ithaca community is not truly feeling the impact of its great student population.”

Yu said that through more local internships, students in the Upstate region may strengthen their relationship with the community.

Andrew Buck grad, who also attended the conference, ageed with Yu’s sentiments.

“Undergrads [here at Cornell] have no real connection with the Ithaca area.”

Buck said that the region’s lack of income-potential forces students with debts to look outside the Ithaca area for jobs that will produce money right away.

Makafui Fiavi ’10, conference attendee, said that graduates abandon Ithaca and the Upstate region in general as they perceive the region “lacks the promise of social mobility.”

The three students concurred over the need of University’s academic programs related with local issues. With such efforts, Yu, Buck and Fiavi predict an increase in the level of interaction between students and the Ithaca community, and as a result, young professional families will be more likely to settle in the Upstate region.