Scientific Autonomy East and West: A Comparison of the Perceptions of Soviet and United States Scientists

Abstract

This study examines the effects of nationality on scientific autonomy. It compares Soviet and United States natural scientists who have recently immigrated to Israel, with respect to the autonomy that they had in their countries of origin, that they have at present, and that they aspire to have in the future. Autonomy is examined in four areas of the scientific role: project selection, methods selection, budget allocation, and selection of coworkers. The main findings are the following: (1) Both Soviet and United States scientists have high aspirations for freedom in their scientific role, although the latter want more autonomy in most role areas than the former; (2) the Russian scientists report that they have had considerably less scientific freedom in the past, and have somewhat less at present, than the United States scientists; (3) the discrepancy between the present and the desired levels of autonomy is larger concerning the Soviet scientists, but the United States scientists have lost more autonomy due to migration, since they enjoyed more scientific freedom in the past; (4) notwithstanding the differences between the Soviet and United States scientists, they would both like to have greatest independence in research methods selection.