Wanted: Local talent in varsities

Political science graduate Wee Shi Chen, 27, recalls being taught by a non-Singaporean whose accent was so thick the students only realised after several weeks that the lecturer's points on Mauritius had actually been on Malaysia.

The 2013 figures for the National University of Singapore's (NUS's) political science department, from which Mr Wee graduated, throw up this startling fact: 18 of its 25 faculty are foreign.

Only seven, or 28 per cent, are Singaporean.

One Member of Parliament found this so worrying he raised the issue during the recent Budget debate. Marine Parade GRC MP Seah Kian Peng highlighted the fact that fewer than half of the faculty in political science, communications and public policy - which he described as "some of the most important and context-sensitive fields of endeavour in any country" - are Singaporean.

In doing so, he shone a spotlight on a longstanding source of unhappiness among local academics. The high number of foreign colleagues has been such a sore point for some that they have aired their grievances to ministers, several said in interviews.

Last year, a small group of local academics had closed-door meetings with Law and Foreign Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam, Senior Minister of State for Education and Law Indranee Rajah and civil servants from the Education and Manpower ministries, sources said.

Ms Indranee had said in Parliament last May that she has heard the call, and that the Education Ministry (MOE) strongly supports and encourages such universities to get more Singaporeans on board for all their tracks.

But the universities have a large degree of autonomy in the way they recruit and in the way they structure, she added.

This was in reply to Nominated MP Eugene Tan, an associate professor of law at the Singapore Management University (SMU), who has raised the issue six times in Parliament since 2012.

He says: "The disproportionate presence and importance of foreign faculty members is a cause for concern."

Associate Professor Alan Chong from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies agrees. Prof Chong, who used to teach at NUS' political science department, says: "My impression is that many of the foreign faculty are here for the higher salaries and expatriate perks, relative to those in North America and Europe. They have no abiding interest in helping Singapore establish itself as a long-term hub for good social science research."

Besides the NUS political science department, locals are also the minority at the university's Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (38 out of 82 faculty) and at NTU's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (12 out of 29 faculty). And at NTU's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI), 21 of the 48 faculty are Singaporean.

All the figures were given by MOE in Parliament last May.

That raises the question of whether the current ratio of local to foreign faculty is worrisome in its impact on teaching and research in what Mr Seah has described as "context-sensitive" fields, within the local public universities.

Loss of local knowledge

Being Singaporean does not automatically make one an expert on a Singapore subject matter, acknowledges SMU's Prof Tan.

But all things being equal, "there is no doubting that a Singaporean faculty is likely to bring to the table intimate local knowledge and a deeper empathy with Singaporean values and society, having lived in Singapore for an extended period. There will also be sensitivity to local nuances", he adds.

Professor Chan Heng Chee, one of the first political science graduates from NUS and the first Singaporean to join the department staff, says:

"When Singaporeans work on Singapore, they bring a special perspective, growing up and living in the society and being part of the society."

"Understanding the culture makes an important difference in shaping a point of view," adds the chair of the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities.

For modules in which students learn how Singapore ticks, such as in economics or politics, "it's important to ensure that we have enough Singaporeans teaching that", says NTU economics head Euston Quah.

Over at NTU's school of communication studies, one senior faculty member is concerned that a module called "Singapore and the Media", which gives a survey of the local media landscape, including, among other things, its historical development and regulations, has been "phased out".

But perhaps the most distressing aspect of this debate over local versus foreign scholars is the insidious suspicion that foreign faculty who have been appointed to leadership positions are hiring and promoting those like them.

Prof Tan says: "Academics have their own networks and sometimes, these may come into play during the hiring process. You will hear often enough complaints of foreign faculty preferring their own kind."

Some Singaporean dons have been so unhappy they requested a meeting with the Manpower Ministry a few months ago to discuss what they perceive as discriminatory hiring.

However, others say that hiring is a "stringent exercise" based on merit. NUS sociologist Paulin Straughan says her department holds open calls, involving the entire department, with the underlying principle of "getting the best talent available for the position that you have".

No longer a draw

Prof Chan, who is also Ambassador-at-large, cites another reason for the dearth of local dons - few Singaporeans want to go into academia because the time they would need to invest in graduate studies is long.

"There are many other attractive job options out there in the market. Bright young people want a piece of the action immediately," she says.

Earning a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) takes four to five years on average, says Prof Quah, and "unless you do the appropriate PhD in high demand, then the scope of finding suitable jobs after getting a PhD is even narrower for you".

NUS economist Shandre Thangavelu says the issue is not that Singaporeans are not interested in academia, but that the incentive mechanism has become "misplaced" over the years.

There used to be greater mentoring and nurturing of local talents, such as through the senior tutorship scheme which has resulted in the many Singaporeans in top university management posts today. But that scheme has since been scrapped, says Prof Shandre.

There is also less support and incentives - like professorships and chairs - for those who wish to pursue Singapore-based research, with many of these positions going to visiting foreign faculty, he says.

That exacerbates the problem posed by Singapore's size, says NUS political scientist Reuben Wong, who points out that Hong Kong's foreign dons outnumber its local ones too.

"There will always be more foreigners because one city alone will not produce enough people to form the majority of academics in university. Not even New York or London. Certainly not Singapore, which has an even smaller population than these global cities."

So foreign academics are necessary and will always be part of an academic establishment in the best universities, says Prof Chan.

"The question is the proportion. I think universities should try harder to attract more Singaporeans into academia and hire qualified suitable Singaporeans to rebalance the numbers," she adds.

Alarm bells

The need for a strong Singaporean core is made more compelling as foreign academics tend not to sink roots in Singapore.

Their higher turnover rate makes it harder to build a critical mass of Singapore academic expertise, Prof Tan says.

Singapore is "on the cusp of a hollowing out" of local academics if the current trend is not reversed, he warns, pointing to numbers which may mean even fewer local dons in the future.

Currently, one in two tenured faculty members across the board is Singaporean. But a significant number of them will be reaching retirement age in the next 10 years, he says. "They are unlikely to be replaced in equal numbers given that, at the tenure-track rank, Singaporean faculty are woefully under-represented."

About one in four faculty members on track for tenure at NUS and NTU is Singaporean. At SMU, the figure is about one in six, according to an Education Ministry reply to a parliamentary question last March.

At a more junior level, since 2008, about six in 10 students who took up master's or PhD studies at Singapore's four autonomous universities have been international students, the ministry said in reply to a separate question last November.

Students weigh in

To students, what matters is not the nationalities of their professors but the work they do.

"When we choose our thesis supervisors, we do not care where the professor is from. All we want is someone who knows about the topic," says NUS history graduate Han Ming Guang, 28.

Many, including Mr Wee, welcome the expertise and diversity of their international lecturers.

Now a pharmaceutical analyst, Mr Wee recalls how he and his classmates had been excited when a "big-name professor from the United States" joined the faculty.

"Previously, we had only read his works. He's a landmark figure. But in the next semester, he was standing in front of me talking. It was great for my academic growth," says Mr Wee.

His former coursemate Clement Ho, 26, now an analyst, says: "The way I see it, I could be trained by professors from America without having to be there."

Foreign lecturers are also not necessarily out of touch with Singapore, says final-year NUS history major Lai Jun Wei, 25.

"We have lecturers who have been in Singapore for over 15 years, and one has even been in Singapore longer than the female students have been - they weren't even born when he came to NUS," he adds.

Furthermore, top university programmes aim to challenge students with a variety of perspectives, says WKWSCI senior lecturer Mark Cenite.

"We aim to not only educate our students about local context but also to shake students out of their comfort zone, expose them to international perspectives, and ask them hard questions about what approaches are optimal for Singapore," he adds.

Prof Chan offers the nuanced view that the universities need to be open to learning. Some foreign academics can achieve a deep understanding of the local culture and perspective, especially after spending many years here, and sometimes an outsider "can raise some very important issues in our development that we have not thought of, and offer policy solutions".

"Academics who do shoddy work and poor analyses whether Singaporean or foreign have no place in a good university."

Deep nationalism

Ulitamely, what should matter most to students, faculty and the wider public is not the number of foreign versus local dons but the quality of teaching, research and scholarship relevant to Singapore.

Professor Straughan says: "I think what is important is for us to ensure that appraisal systems recognise the significance of local research. Because only then will you be able to encourage the brightest researchers, whether they are foreigners or locals, to spend time on local research."

Along similar lines, NUS sociologist Daniel Goh says that focusing on the percentage of Singaporeans in the faculty is "superficial nationalism".

He also cautions against an outcome where the state interferes with the running of the universities by dictating "who to hire, how to teach, what to research".

He points out: "Our universities have the mission to become world universities so as to keep Singapore bright and strong. That is deep nationalism."

All academics and MPs firmly reject any talk of affirmative action, such as a minimum quota of locals or ring-fencing certain subjects for locals to teach.

Besides broadening criteria to recognise academics' contributions to local research, they suggest mentorship and development programmes as ways to nurture more homegrown talent.

Says Prof Chan: "We have to interest students in academic life and mentor them. Students want role models. Professors can inspire students to join academia."

NUS offers overseas graduate and postgraduate scholarships for Singaporeans and PRs, said Ms Indranee in Parliament last year.

SMU has a faculty development scheme which sponsors overseas PhDs for Singaporean graduates keen on academic careers. After completing their degree, they will be considered for appointment to an assistant professorship at SMU, noted Ms Indranee.

Still, Prof Tan says the Education Ministry should keep an eye on hiring practices and remuneration and not let the principle of autonomy become a cloak for discrimination against locals.

"Our universities, ultimately, are Singaporean institutions, and they must have a Singaporean heartbeat," he says.

This article was published on April 5 in The Straits Times.

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