4 - Learning Science in the West

Summary

This chapter introduces the idea of scientific cultures as complex, multifaceted sets of norms and values, shared within a given scientific community, about the appropriate social practice of scientific teaching and research. It identifies seven dimensions of scientific cultures:

1. 1. The attitude towards existing scientific knowledge

2. 2. The approach to problem-solving

3. 3. The scope of research ambitions

4. 4. The degree of autonomy given to individual scientists within a research team

5. 5. The importance given to rank and seniority

6. 6. The attitudes towards difference within the lab or research organization, and finally

7. 7. The approach to inward- and outward-facing communication

This chapter details each of these dimensions using Western-trained Asian scientists’ comparative accounts of their early training in Asia and their subsequent training in the West. This chapter also documents the significant variation in each of these dimensions not only between Asia and the West, but also within each of these world regions at the level of countries, universities, and also individual labs. This helps debunk the idea of a single Asian or Western scientific culture.