it may take 2 to tango, but you also gotta know what you are doing to tango well. So far, i feel that many don't. I am shocked at the level of myopia and racism expressed by some people so far, not just sdntheone. Neither of these two qualities has anything to do with political correctness or liberalism versus conservatism.
1. Research is not simply an intellectual endeavour. Above all, it places huge demands on a country's economic resources. Think about the size of NIH's budget that is needed to maintain America's place at the forefront of scientific discovery. A country, such as China, that can barely feed its own people until a decade ago obviously could not commit the same amount of resources as the West to support its own scientists, doesn't matter how smart they may be, or how capable they are of "thinking outside the box". Research also takes a lot of personal energy. If your priority is to scavenge for food and cloth your family, then personally, I would feel that the quantum mechanics of protein folding can wait, doesn't matter if I were white, yellow, black or neon green. Japan is a perfect example of this. Being the most modern and developed country in Asia post WWII, it has contributed the most to science of all asian countries, and culminated in the highest number of Asian prize winners. Therefore, although the Nobel Prize could be a benchmark of contemporary research, it nonetheless honors research that is decades old at the least, when the world had a distinctly different socioeconomic map compared to today. I think it is safe to bet that the prizes to be awarded in our generation and the next, will begin to reflect more and more the current socioeconomic trends, which means more contributions from Indian and Chinese scientists.
2. Another reason that there are few Asian, especially East-Asian immigrants at the top of the ladder is the significant culture gap. Unlike European immigrants who can adapt readily to the culture, and South-Asian ones who do not have the language gap, it is very hard for Chinese immigrants to integrate into society. When you don't find your bosses' jokes funny and can't understand the rules of football, it is very hard to get promoted. I think as the second generation immigrants mature, there will be more and more Asian leaders.
3. Although it is true that many Asians put in long hours in the lab, and may indeed engender the stereotype of Asian post-docs slaving away for the PI, it is disgusting that people view this in a derogatory and racist fashion. If you had bothered to think about this a little more, you would realize that it is the essence of the "American Dream", which is the very reason they immigrated here to begin with. America prides itself in being a meritocracy, and in a meritocracy, the person who works the hardest, has the best ideas, and deserves it the most gets it. Ironically, without the dreamers and visionaries that pursue this dream, America would not be what it is today. We would not have the current commerce secretary who started by driving a Kellog's cereal truck in Mexico, or Dr. Vilceck who came here to escape persecution from racists (again, ironically) and who just donated 100 million to NYU after a career of biomedical research, or the countless number of doctors and faculty members who happen to be Asian. Even more ironically, those who are now enjoying the economic fruits of these immigrants' labour are now condemning them for pursuing the very dream.
4. I feel the stereotype of the calculus class Chinese kid who has trouble making friends is also true. However, it is also important to realize its historical and social roots. The chinese education system is predicated entirely on standardized tests. Therefore many families who immigrate here raise their children in the same mould, assuming that a narrow minded focus on academics is the sure and only way to success. This behaviour is not beneficial to society and should not be condoned in any ethnicity. In my experience however, these people also don't get very far as the Western system is designed to weed out these people. At top undergrad schools at least, there are a lot of asians, but few of them only know how to study (or play the piano for that matter).
whatever your politics is on immigration and outsourcing, thats none of my business. But I couldn't stand reading *****ic posts spewing racist and xenophobic propaganda.
By the way, I was born in china and immigrated to canada when i was a kid. I now go to undergrad in the states.
Just to add one more thing, I wouldn't advocate so much for British colonialism, or any form of imperialismt for that matter, before you learn a little more history. To get you started, you may want to take a look at the the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Indian-Pakistan-Kashmir mess, the ethnic violence in Afganistan, the Opium wars in East asia, the Sudan mess, the Congo (as mentioned by someone else), and the Rwandan massacres (although that was Belgian). In fact, almost any place in Africa would be a good place to start.
