'Brain Drain' Debate Shouldn't Ignore The Welfare of Foreigners Or The Responsibilities Of Their Governments

By Matthew Cameron

It may not have been as grand as Netroots Nation, but last week's First International Worldviews Conference on Media and Higher Education produced some interesting commentary about the future of colleges and universities in a globalized world. Among the most pressing topics that were discussed, according to conference organizer Inside Higher Ed, was the notorious phenomenon of "brain drain." Unfortunately, several academics at the conference seem to have taken a rather narrow approach to the issue:

Wisdom J. Tettey, a professor at the University of Calgary who studies globalization and African higher education, said he worried about the trends' impact on Africa and other parts of the developing world. "Some of what's called 'internationalization' is really just grabbing talent," he said.

Tettey said that he is not suggesting that Western universities stop recruiting talent in Africa or elsewhere. But, he said, "the ethical context is not being interrogated enough." […]

[Noreen] Golfman said that there are issues to consider even in how brain drain is discussed. While she endorsed Tettey's view that there are ethical issues associated with such recruitment, she said that she had no doubt that foreign-born faculty members had significantly improved Canadian universities. "Diversity has been good for Canadian higher education."

Both of these perspectives seem to imply that Western colleges and universities are the only ones who benefit from this situation. Yet foreign-born academics have a lot to cheer about as well. Rather than spending their careers languishing in underdeveloped higher education systems with complex bureaucracies, inadequate infrastructure, and limited funds, it is possible for them to conduct research and develop themselves as instructors in environments where they enjoy strong support from the state, private donors and their peers. From both a practical and an ethical standpoint, this seems to be quite good.

Losing academic talent is obviously a hindrance to economic advancement, but simply discouraging Western nations from "grabbing talent" ignores the responsibility of non-Western governments to better allocate their nations' public resources (less for the military, more for education) and do more to foster climates that encourage open and honest academic debate.