52 - Culture, Fellowship Opportunities, and Ethical Issues for Decision Makers

Summary

An ethical dilemma faced by the senior author dealt with the awarding of fellowships for advanced graduate students and recent recipients of doctoral degrees. (The second author will give reactions based on her experiences both as an international student and as a recent PhD.) I was working at the East-West Center, an international research and educational organization in Honolulu, Hawaii, which is housed on the University of Hawaii campus. In different years since its inception in 1961 it has been part of the University of Hawaii and has been a separate institution that has received most of its funding from the U.S. Government. One of its major tasks has been to provide opportunities for educational, technical, and cultural exchanges for citizens of the United States and of Asian and Pacific Island nations.

I had the opportunity to offer year-long predoctoral and postdoctoral fellowships to scholars who were interested in pursuing cross-cultural research studies. The fellowships were for citizens of any country in the East-West Center mission statement: Japan, Korea, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, and so forth. During the good years in the 1970s through the 1990s, I could have two fellowships to offer each year. But East-West Center rules were careful to avoid the perception of favorite countries, favorite institutions, or “old boy” networks. I could not simply write to a colleague in Japan and ask her or him to send me a first-rate scholar. I had to prepare a general announcement that would go to institutions in all of the countries in the East-West Center mission statement.