1143 



In Hispanic cultures, notably in Latin America, science and tech- 

 nology are not held in high esteem. Scientists, engineers, and other 

 technologists do not enjoy the prestige and recognition extended to 

 those in the "liberal" professions. Indeed, the dominant elites are 

 inclined to place a low value on science and technology as degrading.^^^ 

 As the report of the Pan American Health Organization on brain 

 drain from Latin America said : "The most fundamental problem con- 

 fronting the development of science — including biomedical science — 

 in Latin America relates not to any specific deficiency but to a complex 

 of social attitudes that result in a nonscientific or an antiscientific 

 attitude on the part of the population generally and often on the part 

 of political leaders as well." "*® 



Without status and prestige, Latin American scientists and tech- 

 nologists are excluded from participation in government activities and 

 in other areas of national life where they could contribute to national 

 development.^^" 



A more tangible consequence of this prejudice is a failure by govern- 

 ments and societies to give scientists and technologists adequate sup- 

 port for carrying on their work. Studies on the state of science and 

 technology in Latin America invariably emphasize the failure of ade- 

 quate funding. 



Other countries hold similar prejudices, and the effects are predict- 

 able. The lack of proper status and adequate recognition for scientists 

 and technologists is a factor in compelling Africans with initiative and 

 special aptitude to emigrate to France and Britain.^" Korea, Taiwan 

 and South Vietnam hold similar misplaced values.^^^ Even Britain 

 shares this prejudice, which has been a factor in pushing its scientists 

 and technologists into migration to North America.^^^ In the Philip- 

 pines the same is true. The medical profession is the most prestigious 

 of all. This is an established national tradition. And parents will make 

 great sacrifices to put their children through medical school.^^* Conse- 

 quently, the Philippines produce an enormous surplus of doctors, while 

 the disciplines of science and technology, so necessary for balanced na- 

 tional development but held in low esteem, are virtually ignored. 



2« Skolnlkoflf, op. cit., pp. 200-201. 



2" Pan American Health Organization, Migration of Health Personnel, Scientists, and 

 Enffineers from Latin America (Washington: September 1966), p. 48. (Scientific publica- 

 tion No. 142.) Hereafter cited as, Report on Brain Drain from Latin America, Pan American 

 Health Organization, 1966. 



23* Ismael Escobar of the Inter-American Development Bank observed at a conference on 

 science and technology meeting in Santiago, Chile : "As a result of exclusion from govern- 

 mental bodies and foreign affairs, scientists are unable to contribute to such great socio- 

 economic movements as Latin American unity, the trend towards reglonallzation and eco- 

 nomic, educational and scientific integration." United Nations Educational, Scientific and 

 Cultural Organization, Final Report of the Conference on the Application of Science and 

 Technology to the Development of Latin America, Organized by UNESCO with the coopera- 

 tion of the Economic Commission for Latin America, Santiago, Chile, Sept. 13-22. 1965. 

 p. 168. Hereafter cited as, UNESCO, Final Report of Conference on. the Application of 

 Science and Technology to the Development of Latin America, 1965. 



2«i R. K. A. Gardiner, "Africa," In, Adams, chapter 13, pp. 197-198. 



-82 Report of U.N. Secretary General, Outflow of Trained Personnel From LDCs, Nov. 5, 

 1968, p. 46.86. 



^ss James A. Wilson cited the following as a cause for emigration: "That scientific 

 research as such is not respected ; that scientists are not welcomed into general industrial 

 management ; that the rewards in Britain go to the liberal-arts trained Oxbridge and Eton 

 types." (The value pattern of productive scientists, as reflected In the contemporary 

 "brain-drain" from Britain to North America. Project on, "The impact of American 

 values of the current revolution in science and technology," conducted at the University 

 of Pittsburgh, September 1965, p. 6. Preliminary draft.) 



^"Howland, op. cit., p. 4. 



