Education and Global Cultural Dialogue: Analyses of the Chinese Knowledge Diaspora at a Major Canadian University

Abstract

In an era where the knowledge economy is increasingly global in form, China is competing vigorously to strengthen its innovation system, of which its universities are a key element. Among China’s strategic advantages is the huge resource represented by its own highly skilled diaspora. Recognizing the potential of this resource, and in an era of skill shortages in key arenas, countries of migration, such as Canada, have targeted their migration schemes at highly skilled individuals, many of whom are mainland Chinese (Hugo 2006). A large number of mainland Chinese intellectuals work at universities abroad, often after having obtained their PhDs abroad. As knowledge carriers and producers, they are valuable human capital and are a target of national migration and innovation policies (Kuptsch and Pang 2006). Those working in Canadian universities become important assets to both Canada and China. However, there has been little empirical research on them, especially in local contexts and in relation to broader axes of spatial relations in state and society (Cartier 2003). Based on a case study of Westcoast University (a pseudonym), this chapter examines the potential to deploy China’s large and highly skilled diaspora in the service of Chinese and Canadian scientific and technological development.