Establishing the Social Institutions of International Brain Drain
A casual Thursday night, the author found himself having a beer at the local English-style pub with a French academic. Coincidentally being a coworker at Academia Sinica like the author himself, the Frenchman shared some of his own opinions of what is it like working as a researcher in a strange land with a different system. The results are by no means flattering and one thing stood out the most in his assessment: it is that a mentality of "let's temporarily be here until we can get a better opportunity abroad" that prevails among the non-tenured employees of nearly all institutes.
He makes an extremely valid point. Yes, as the author also observed, the low salary and the lack of productivity among the research assistants here have not made them anymore enthusiastic about their jobs. But more importantly, it is because tenured research fellows are so determined to hang onto their jobs until practically their last breath, and opportunities for post-docs are so far and few in between, that ambitious academics are basically encouraged to look everywhere. The cadre of old fellows lost in touch reality, and no mid-section of research-oriented post-docs also mean research assistants end up a boring secretaries.
Fast forward one day to Friday night, the author found himself joining a big group dinner of a college friend of a former colleague in Japan. He came face to face with some of Taiwan's corporate elites, people of his own age group holding managerial level positions in the island's giants like Asus and TSMC. Practically every single one of the group had foreign higher education training, spoke absolutely flawless fluent English that put the author himself in shame, and constantly gave off an air of confidence that is so congruent with their personal success stories.
Yet, even as they talk about their interesting lives, the author detected a sense of sorrow beneath the words. They spoke of the constant fluctuations within their group of well-connected friends, with many disappearing abroad for more exciting job opportunities. Asked why they have not done the same, several mentioned that the presence of family members in Taiwan as a factor. Perhaps the author is being a bit cynical in his usual lack of filial piety, but he cannot help but feels that such is only an excuse and they just have yet to find that perfect opportunity to launch themselves out of Taiwan again.
These are moments that the author realize how ingrained the concept of "brain drain" is in a this society. The author has seen the desire to leave a country before, but only significantly among the so-called successful but oppressed minorities like the ethnic Chinese of Malaysia. But here in Taiwan, the attitude of "grass is greener on the other side" is quickly becoming a norm among everyone, especially the younger generations of educated elites in both the corporate and the academic world. These guys have seen what it is like living abroad, and obviously they feel Taiwan is not up to international standards in many ways.
What the author really think is scary, however, is not individuals imagining better lives abroad but the establishment of social structures that consolidate such beliefs. These can be simple lack of jobs as is the case in Academia Sinica, but become much more powerful when transformed into codified group-think as the author has unfortunately witnessed in the past weeks through various foreigner-oriented social events around Taipei. By putting ordinary people in Taiwan into direct interaction with foreigners, or even just other foreign-minded Taiwanese, turn imaginations into possibilities and realities.
Indeed, if a person is only dreaming about going abroad for a residential adventure of some sort, the fact that everyday pressures at work and family life may easily quash or semi-permanently suppress such thoughts as unrealistic, outrighteous, and not worthy of effort. Under such reality, only the boldest and, in one way, the most heartless, will go through with their foreign plans. This will no longer be so when these dreamers get together in regular meetups. With constant reminder of what life can be like in a different country, wrapped so nicely in an environment so different from the current everyday, people will have second thoughts.
Maybe it is all an illusion, one that helps people to remember what is so great about living abroad but still having full access to the conveniences of living at home. It is not at all limited to Taiwan or Asia. It is a global movement of some sort that unify people who are the pioneers of globalization, who try to see no cultural or national boundaries but are at the same time ambivalent about their own roles in helping to break down such borders. Indeed, some places like Taiwan may get the short end of the stick as there will be more people willing to leave it than enter it, but maybe it is still too early to conclude it as a pure "brain drain"...
He makes an extremely valid point. Yes, as the author also observed, the low salary and the lack of productivity among the research assistants here have not made them anymore enthusiastic about their jobs. But more importantly, it is because tenured research fellows are so determined to hang onto their jobs until practically their last breath, and opportunities for post-docs are so far and few in between, that ambitious academics are basically encouraged to look everywhere. The cadre of old fellows lost in touch reality, and no mid-section of research-oriented post-docs also mean research assistants end up a boring secretaries.
Fast forward one day to Friday night, the author found himself joining a big group dinner of a college friend of a former colleague in Japan. He came face to face with some of Taiwan's corporate elites, people of his own age group holding managerial level positions in the island's giants like Asus and TSMC. Practically every single one of the group had foreign higher education training, spoke absolutely flawless fluent English that put the author himself in shame, and constantly gave off an air of confidence that is so congruent with their personal success stories.
Yet, even as they talk about their interesting lives, the author detected a sense of sorrow beneath the words. They spoke of the constant fluctuations within their group of well-connected friends, with many disappearing abroad for more exciting job opportunities. Asked why they have not done the same, several mentioned that the presence of family members in Taiwan as a factor. Perhaps the author is being a bit cynical in his usual lack of filial piety, but he cannot help but feels that such is only an excuse and they just have yet to find that perfect opportunity to launch themselves out of Taiwan again.
These are moments that the author realize how ingrained the concept of "brain drain" is in a this society. The author has seen the desire to leave a country before, but only significantly among the so-called successful but oppressed minorities like the ethnic Chinese of Malaysia. But here in Taiwan, the attitude of "grass is greener on the other side" is quickly becoming a norm among everyone, especially the younger generations of educated elites in both the corporate and the academic world. These guys have seen what it is like living abroad, and obviously they feel Taiwan is not up to international standards in many ways.
What the author really think is scary, however, is not individuals imagining better lives abroad but the establishment of social structures that consolidate such beliefs. These can be simple lack of jobs as is the case in Academia Sinica, but become much more powerful when transformed into codified group-think as the author has unfortunately witnessed in the past weeks through various foreigner-oriented social events around Taipei. By putting ordinary people in Taiwan into direct interaction with foreigners, or even just other foreign-minded Taiwanese, turn imaginations into possibilities and realities.
Indeed, if a person is only dreaming about going abroad for a residential adventure of some sort, the fact that everyday pressures at work and family life may easily quash or semi-permanently suppress such thoughts as unrealistic, outrighteous, and not worthy of effort. Under such reality, only the boldest and, in one way, the most heartless, will go through with their foreign plans. This will no longer be so when these dreamers get together in regular meetups. With constant reminder of what life can be like in a different country, wrapped so nicely in an environment so different from the current everyday, people will have second thoughts.
Maybe it is all an illusion, one that helps people to remember what is so great about living abroad but still having full access to the conveniences of living at home. It is not at all limited to Taiwan or Asia. It is a global movement of some sort that unify people who are the pioneers of globalization, who try to see no cultural or national boundaries but are at the same time ambivalent about their own roles in helping to break down such borders. Indeed, some places like Taiwan may get the short end of the stick as there will be more people willing to leave it than enter it, but maybe it is still too early to conclude it as a pure "brain drain"...
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