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Are Scientists in Developing Countries Isolated?

Department of Sociology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA E-mail: Sowes1{at}unix1.sncc.1su.edu.

Patricia Campion

Department of Sociology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA E-mail: Sowes1{at}unix1.sncc.1su.edu.

Most scholars and development experts assume that scientists in developing countries are isolated, although some posit that they are part of a global scientific community. This paper seeks to determine the size of professional networks for scientists in less developed countries (LDC) as well as the distribution of their ties across organisational contexts and locations. Professional contact networks of scientists in Africa and Asia were determined in personal interviews with 293 researchers in universities, government laboratories and non-governmental organisations. Contrary to expectations, researchers in the least devel oped countries do not have the smallest networks. Results indicate that: (a) international and domestic networks are inversely related, (b) education abroad increases contact with the developed world for scientists in state institutes and non-government organisations, but not for academics, and (c) there are reduced returns to education for researchers in the least developed research systems. Our primary conclusion is that the characterisation of LDC scientists as 'isolated' is misleading when their professional networks are concen trated in local arenas.

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