Page 70 - EW Jan 2024_Neat

International News

legislation that would make it illegal for academics to share
sensitive research with any foreigner, except Americans and
Britons, without government approval. Universities fear a
stifling of their academic freedoms. Yet, for the moment,
such measures seem a fairly modest curb on their impres-
sive openness.

UNITED STATES
Debate restoration initiatives

FACING THEIR TOUGHEST-EVER NATION-
WIDE tests of academic freedom, some US insti-
tutions are slowly trying to move past questions
of intrusive donors and violent protests by teaching more
directly about tolerance.
While many of the nation’s campuses remain convulsed Pro-Palestine protest at Harvard University
by demonstrations, threats, and arrests relating to the Is-
rael-Hamas conflict, several of them — including Harvard career promotions attract academics to Germany, interna-
University, Dartmouth College, New York University and tional researchers have less confidence in their long-term
the University of Virginia — have stepped forward with edu- career prospects.
cational programmes aimed at students, faculty and staff. Study respondents also cited the complexity of career
Virginia plans a series of public presentations by experts paths in Germany, experiences of xenophobia and exclu-
on Middle East politics and global conflicts. Its aim is to sion and issues with the visa system as obstacles dissuading
“encourage the free sharing of beliefs and ideas, regardless them from pursuing professorships in the country.
of political leaning”, says provost Ian Baucom. Jan Kercher, a senior researcher at DAAD, noted that
Harvard’s president, Claudine Gay, promises education while international researchers comprise almost 14 percent
and training programmes aimed at “protecting all members of academic staff in Germany, they make up about 7 percent
of our community”, although she puts particular emphasis of professors. “There is a kind of ‘leaky pipeline’ on the path
on confronting “antisemitism in daily life”. NYU is creating of international researchers from doctorate to professor-
a Center for the Study of Antisemitism, while Dartmouth ship in Germany,” he told Times Higher Education.
started educational forums on the conflict almost immedi- Of the academics surveyed, almost 70 percent said Ger-
ately after the initial Hamas attack. man language skills were relevant or highly relevant for
Signs of US higher education remembering and prioritis- their careers. Lack of fluency inhibited their daily collabo-
ing its teaching role in the face of flaring Israeli-Palestinian ration with colleagues, their inclusion in faculty meetings
violence remain too rare, says Suzanne Nossel, chief ex- and their teaching capacity, they said.
ecutive of PEN America, a writers’ group that has become Several respondents shared experiences of xenophobia
a leading voice for campus free speech protections. “That and racism in Germany, with one describing a sense of “hos-
has to be a much more deliberate, intentional part of the tility” from the general public and another citing a “closed”
university experience, because we’re seeing that it’s really German culture. Others discussed expensive, competitive
not working as is,” says Nossel. housing markets.
The Biden administration also tried to calm the situation German visa laws, which link residence permits to em-
by formally warning college and university leaders nation- ployment, concerned study participants from outside the
wide that they have a legal obligation to provide all students European Union. “In addition, the international academics
with an educational environment free from discrimination. and researchers surveyed reported a lack of multilingual-
ism and service orientation in the immigration authorities,”
GERMANY says Dr. Kercher.
Leaky pipeline portance of plugging the “leaky pipeline”. “Germany is a
DAAD president Joybrato Mukherjee stresses the im-

INSUFFICIENT GERMAN LANGUAGE SKILLS highly attractive host country for international academics
are the primary hurdle for international academ- and researchers,” says Prof. Mukherjee, president of the
ics targeting long-term careers in Germany, a new University of Giessen. “On this basis, we should be even
study has found. The German Academic Exchange Service more successful in the future in supporting international
(DAAD) interviewed international postdocs, new professors talent on their path to a professorship.”
and members of university management for the study, con- (Excerpted and adapted from The Economist and Times
cluding that while research funding opportunities and early Higher Education)

70 EDUCATIONWORLD JANUARY 2024