Returned Scholars & University Reform (I) (original) (raw)
Related papers
2021
This paper compares the research productivity between two groups of Chinese early-and mid-career researchers, who both got their PhDs in research leading institutions outside Mainland China. One group was recruited back to mainland China under a specific scheme, called "Young Thousand Talents" ("Y1000T")a clear attempt by the Chinese Government to tackle brain drain and to nurture Chinese universities. These researchers got their PhD predominantly, though not exclusively, from US institutions. Many other Chinese researchers of similar age, disciplines and prestige of PhD awarding institutions continue to work outside China at research-intensive universities. We collected a sample of this latter category of Chinese diasporas, searching from US research intensive universities. We use this distinction to set up a quasi-experimental research design in order to answer whether or not scheme recipients returnees ("Y1000T") have been more productive in research, in comparison to those who remained outside China. The comparison primarily considers the number of publications. Results show that after coming back to China, Y1000T returnees have significantly increased their productivity in terms of the number of outputs, arguably because of their favourable research conditions.
Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 2014
This paper highlights the gendered nature of international academic mobility. Drawing on a qualitative research on Chinese scholars who have professional mobility experiences overseas, specifically in Germany, the paper demonstrates how the practice, meanings and perceptions of academic mobility are highly gendered. Research findings highlight how gender, intersecting with other axes of differences, shapes the power geometries of the transnationalized academic field, and in turn, facilitates and inhibits academic mobility differently among women and men. By bringing forth the gender inequalities in academic mobility, this paper contributes in opening up spaces to challenge and eliminate structural and normalized gender bias in the field.
CHINA'S BRAIN DRAIN AT THE HIGH END
Asian Population Studies, 2008
Between 1978 and 2007, more than 1.21 million Chinese went abroad for study and research, of whom only about a quarter have returned. The Chinese government's policies of attracting firstrate overseas academics back have yielded mixed results at best. This article discusses why overseas Chinese academics hesitate to return at a time when China is in desperate need of talent to turn itself into an innovation-oriented society. Common reasons relate to low salaries, problems of education for children and jobs for spouses, and problems of separation if some family members still reside abroad. More important are institutional factors. Guanxi still matters. The opportunity costs in career development are too high. In social science research, there are still taboos. Rampant misconduct has also tainted the Chinese scientific community. The article concludes that unless the research culture becomes conducive to doing first-rate work and meritocracy is rewarded, China is unlikely to witness the return migration of first-rate academics.
Between 1978 and 2007, more than 1.21 million Chinese went abroad for study and research, of whom only about a quarter have returned. The Chinese government's policies of attracting first- rate overseas academics back have yielded mixed results at best. This article discusses why overseas Chinese academics hesitate to return at a time when China is in desperate need of talent to turn itself into an innovation-oriented society. Common reasons relate to low salaries, problems of education for children and jobs for spouses, and problems of separation if some family members still reside abroad. More important are institutional factors. Guanxi still matters. The opportunity costs in career development are too high. In social science research, there are still taboos. Rampant misconduct has also tainted the Chinese scientific community. The article concludes that unless the research culture becomes conducive to doing first-rate work and meritocracy is rewarded, China is unlikely to wi...
Returned Scholars & University Reform (II)
This report adopts a cost-benefit analysis in understanding the decision of return option for overseas nationals in the domain of science. I lay special emphasis on the cost of academic excellence, compensation for aging process and the advantages of domestic network. An overseas scientist will come back if and only if the rent for being senior and easiness of adaption transcend his/her concern for research output. By regression on a pooled cross section data merging returnees and overseas scholars of China, I empirically exemplified the negative effect of academic excellence, the positive effect of age and the positive effect of connection on the probability of return. This result has great implication for both the brain drain literature and China's talent policy.
Journal of International Migration and Integration, 2014
While the booming market and policy incentives of China are reversing the pattern of talent flow across the Pacific, a large proportion of the mainland Chinese immigrant scientists currently in Canadian academia have decided not to return home; meanwhile, their interactions with China in terms of brain circulation are not extensive overall. This study attempts to explore the key factors for the paradox of China's scientific brain drain through the lens of culture, drawing on data mainly from indepth interviews with 14 mainland Chinese immigrant scientists in Canadian academia. The theoretical framework derives from the models of cultural negotiation (Sakamoto 2001) and bidimensional acculturation (Berry, Appl Psychol 46: 5-34, 1997). Data analysis reveals that cultural factors override everything else in shaping the leave-stay decision and brain exchange behavior of these Chinese scientists, who have gone through a cultural negotiation and construction process. With a transformed perspective, these academic migrants hold firmly the new culture's beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors; therefore, the work styles, notions, and ethics of their counterparts in China have cultural limitations and are incongruent with their practice in Canada. Meanwhile, they have been significantly influenced by Chinese cultural values, notably group orientation, hierarchy loving, selfabasement, harmony seeking, face saving, etc. The findings should shed some light on public policies aiming to realize the full value of top talents for the benefits of China, Canada, and beyond.
Closing the Gender Gap in Science: New Evidence from urban China
In this paper, we analyze newly collected data which conducts a unique assessment of student performance for over two thousand students attending high schools in five Chinese provinces. Across three domains of scientific intelligence tested, we document heterogeneous gender gaps in academic performance. These differences generally arise due to differential productivity of inputs to the education production process and not differential levels of inputs. At many quantiles of the achievement distribution, girls perform better than boys when identifying scientific issues, whereas the converse holds on the portion of the assessment that measures whether one can apply scientific evidence. These differences may partially explain the subsequent gap in decision to major in specific STEM fields in college. * We would like to thank Steven Lehrer for many helpful comments and suggestions on earlier drafts. Ding wishes to thank the Project 985 Visiting Scholar Funding for financial support that faciliated conducting this project via visits to Beijing Normal University. We are responsible for all errors.
Returnees and Diaspora as Source of Innovation in Chinese Higher Education
Frontiers of Education in China
This paper highlights how returnees and knowledge diaspora are important sources for China's human resources development, identifying push and pull factors that also contribute significantly to innovation in the higher education sector. By outlining China's key projects and schemes for recruiting international professional workers, the paper argues that bringing advanced knowledge and skills back to a country of origin through international education and experiences is neither new, nor limited to China. At the same time, the rise of a large, worldwide Chinese knowledge diaspora is now of global importance in promoting transnational scientific and business networks that underpin both research and development, and the quest for world-class universities. China's size and weight, its determination to boost development and improve its higher education system, as well as the willingness of both diaspora and returnees to contribute, constitute its advantages. However, there remain limitations to its success, notably a lack of high-quality research, reservations regarding new ideas, low awareness of international collaborations, too much attention given to material rewards and quick results, corruption, and too many administrative controls and government regulations.