Working Conditions Keep Expatriate Researchers Away
MEDIA RELEASE EMBARGOED UNTIL 6.00 a.m. NZDT Tuesday 16 November 1999
CONTACTS
Prof. Mark Wilson, University of Montana, USA.
Phone 1 406 251 8506 (home) 1 406 243 6941 (office)
Fax 1 406 243 2674
E-mail wilsonm@member.ams.org
Jolisa Gracewood, Cornell University, USA.
Phone 1 607 277 3510 (home/office)
E-mail jmg24@cornell.edu
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WORKING CONDITIONS, NOT TAXES, KEEP EXPATRIATE RESEARCHERS AWAY
Politicians bemoaning the brain drain have not bothered to ask expatriates what would bring them and their skills back
home, says a group of young New Zealand researchers based here and overseas.
The group scoffs at claims by Max Bradford, Richard Prebble and others that the prospect of a small tax increase would
accelerate the brain drain.
"That is nonsense," says Prof. Mark Wilson, a mathematician at the University of Montana. "When I weigh up returning to
New Zealand, small changes to the top marginal tax rates don't even figure. What matters is whether I'll be working in
an institution that can support excellent teaching and advanced research."
The group says that the National government should not be surprised that New Zealand is finding it difficult to retain
highly educated people, as recent studies have revealed.
"If you pull the plug out, of course you'll get a brain drain," argue Auckland University mathematicians Dr. Geoffrey
Pritchard and Dr. Shayne Waldron, referring to the ongoing erosion of public funding for universities. "All the current
rhetoric about a 'knowledge economy' completely ignores the real and tragic effects of education policies of the last
decade."
"New Zealand has always been dependent on imported knowledge, much of it in the form of returning New Zealanders," says
Dr. Richard Easther, an astrophysicist working at Brown University. "But the current state of university funding makes
it difficult to participate in the circulation of knowledge and talent that is a crucial part of the international
academic world. We're increasingly unable to attract top thinkers."
"Nor does the government understand the connection between good research and good teaching," adds Dr. Amanda Peet, a
theoretical high energy physicist. "Funding per student has dropped over the last decade, and research and teaching are
both suffering as a result. In the United States, the research university exposes students to teachers who are working
at the cutting edge, and is the major incubator of a culture of inquiry and innovation. Frankly, I don't see young
innovators flourishing in an environment as starved for support as New Zealand's tertiary sector."
The government's Bright Future package, which plans to offer scholarships for overseas PhD study, is pouring money into
the wrong bucket. New Zealand students have always been successful in landing fully-funded places at world-class
universities, studying everything from string theory to Robin Hyde. The money set aside for these new scholarships would
be better spent on protecting and improving research conditions in New Zealand.
Ironically, there is often more support overseas for studying New Zealand culture, says Michelle Elleray, who is
completing a PhD at Cornell University. "Here in upstate New York, I have better access to funding and resources for my
research into New Zealand cultural history than I could currently hope for at a university back home."
The group insists that above all, government must take the lead in properly funding and promoting a broad culture of
research, in both the sciences and the humanities. Public funding of research is essential, given New Zealand's lack of
a traditionally philanthropic private sector, and the pitifully low research and development spending compared to OECD
norms.
Proposed tax incentives for private-sector R are a start, but if the government is really worried about the brain drain and wants to stimulate a knowledge economy,
it will stop blaming bogeymen like tax increases, and boost expenditure on R to match other OECD countries.
"The government could begin by looking at the best practices of other successful economies," says Jolisa Gracewood, who
is completing a Comparative Literature PhD at Cornell University. "We might not be able to build a local Harvard or MIT
overnight, but we can emulate their strengths. Top universities like those prove that knowledge production thrives when
people are given the stability necessary to pursue long-term, open-ended projects, at well-funded institutions that
nourish a wide variety of disciplines and perspectives."
Unfortunately, the group says, the message they're getting from many colleagues in New Zealand is that it's not a good
time to come home, but a good time to pack up and leave. This has nothing to do with tax rates and everything to do with
the lack of a research-friendly environment. "Glitzy policy pamphlets and an enthusiasm for short-sighted, short-term
efficiencies are masking a major, long-term haemorrhage of research talent from New Zealand," says Prof. Wilson. "We're
speaking out now because if the current policies prevail there'll be nothing for us to come back to. It's not a bright
future at all."
Even in a perfect world not everyone will be able or willing to come home. But policy-makers have done little or nothing
to tap the experience and expertise of expatriate academics. The group warns that voters should be suspicious of
politicians who loudly trumpet the importance of "knowledge" and bewail the brain drain, and yet fail to consult the
network of highly-educated New Zealanders across the globe.
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The following people contributed to and signed this media release. The views expressed are their own and not those of
the various institutions which employ them.
Dr Mark Wilson, Assistant Professor (Mathematics), University of Montana, USA
Jolisa Gracewood, PhD candidate (Comparative Literature), Cornell University, USA
Dr Amanda Peet, Post-doctoral fellow (Theoretical High Energy Physics), University of California Santa Barbara, USA
Dr Richard Easther, Post-doctoral fellow (Astrophysics and Cosmology), Brown University, USA
Dr Geoffrey Pritchard, Lecturer (Statistics), University of Auckland
Dr Shayne Waldron, Lecturer (Mathematics), University of Auckland
Dr Ben Martin, Postdoctoral Fellow (Mathematics), University of Sydney, Australia
Dr Andrew Allan, Scientist (Plant Biology), HortResearch
Michelle Elleray, PhD Candidate (English), Cornell University, USA
Dr Richard Laugesen, Assistant Professor (Mathematics), University of Illinois, USA
Anne Lyden, PhD Candidate (English), Cornell University, USA
Dr Mark Moir, Assistant Professor (Computer Science), University of Pittsburgh, USA
Dr Sean Oughton, Lecturer (Applied Mathematics), University College London, UK
Chris Werry, PhD candidate (English), Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Nicola Rowe, doctoral student (Law), Georg-August-Universität zu Göttingen, Germany
Dr Andrew Ensor, Postdoctoral Fellow (Mathematics), University of Siena, Italy
Dr Michael Witbrock, Principal Scientist, Lycos Inc., USA
Dr Matthew Parry, Postdoctoral Research Associate (Cosmology), Imperial College London, UK
Dr Anna Neill, Assistant Professor (English), University of Kansas, USA
Dr Sarah Winters, Temporary Lecturer (English), University of Toronto, Canada
Dr Jonathan Gil Harris, Associate Professor (English), Ithaca College, USA
Dr Kathryn McGrath, Lecturer (Chemistry), University of Otago
ENDS