It is not clear, however, that foreign returnees will use their growing influence to promote democratization. Andrew Scott Conning, a researcher at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, tells the HPR that Chinese students who choose to study abroad “are less likely than those who stay home to end up working in the public sector.” He admits that “although government agencies and the Communist Party do attempt to draw talent from among returnees,” such positions actually represent a small share of China’s returnees.
The extent to which sea turtles (Chinese students who had worked or studied abroad and had returned home) bring democratic values to Chinese education may also be exaggerated. According to Conning, the influence of foreign returnees on education is strongest at the university level, where their qualifications are in high demand. By contrast, their influence fails to reach the majority of Chinese citizens who do not attend higher education because they serve a minimal role in primary and secondary education.
http://hpronline.org/covers/global-migration/chinas-brain-gain/
Keith Conning: Andrew Scott Conning, 40, is my son. He is studying for a Ph.D. in Education at Harvard University. This year he is doing research at Peking University in Beijing.
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