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This chapter introduces the concept of scientific remittances – the informational, reputational and cultural diffusion that occurs as a result of the brain circulation of scientists. The scientific remittances that returning Asian scientists bring back with them include, not just new scientific know-how and new network connections in the global scientific field, but also new norms and values regarding the social practice of scientific training and research. At the same time, this chapter acknowledges that the Asian societies where scientists returned had also undergone change during their time in the West. Partly in response to these societal changes, and their own positionality within their institutions, returnees tended to focus their own change efforts on their labs and classrooms. I highlight four key cultural dimensions where returnees were focusing their change efforts. These were:
1. Encouraging a curiosity-driven approach to scientific learning
2. Raising their students’ research passions and ambitions
3. Leveling attitudes towards rank within their labs
This chapter introduces the questions driving the book and summarizes its four main findings:
1. The recent improvements in the scientific research systems in select Asian countries, that have led to an increase in the return migrations of Western-trained Asian scientists
2. The increasing diversification of training pathways within the Asian scientist migration system
3. How returned Asian scientists are affecting the scientific research systems and scientific cultures in the Asian research organizations where they work through their scientific remittances
4. The variations that exist in the scientific research systems and cultures across Asia.
This chapter also introduces the book's foundational concepts – such as the global scientific field, brain circulation, migration systems, scientific remittances and scientific cultures. The chapter explains the research design and methods used to collect data, and provides descriptive statistics about the 119 Asian scientists interviewed for the book. These 119 scientists are divided into three groups: those who stayed in the West after their training, those who returned to their birth country, and those who halfway-returned to another Asian country.
This concluding chapter outlines the implications of the shifting scientific landscape in Asia for future generations of Asian scientists. The chapter reviews the theoretical implications of the key findings from the book, and revisits the new concepts and ideas introduced throughout the book, which have relevance for the fields of migration studies, science & technology studies and also gender studies. The chapter highlights what is yet to be studied on this topic, and lays out a future research agenda for scholars from these fields. Finally, the chapter highlights the policy implications of these developments for Asian and non-Asian countries, and ends with a set of policy recommendations for government officials and research leaders in these countries as they seek to make themselves attractive destinations for native (and nonnative) research scientists and raise their relative profile in the global scientific field.
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