The Future of an Open Academic World

2020/05/22

"¡Madre mía!" I was at a loss for words, as was my daughter who happened to be in the UK on business, when we learned the results of the referendum from a message sent in the early hours of the morning from my son-in-law, a Spaniard working at the European Parliament. It has already been about four years since that result—a narrow margin for Brexit that surprised even the Leavers, let alone the Remainers. Following the resignation of Prime Minister Cameron and the subsequent May Cabinet, the UK finally left the EU at the end of January this year under current Prime Minister Johnson. Specific "divorce" terms must be negotiated with the EU by the end of this year, but the British government continues to maintain a hardline stance, insisting they will carry out Brexit even if negotiations collapse and result in a "no deal." Having gone through two general elections since the referendum with the terms of withdrawal still unclear, the public was suffering from Brexit fatigue regardless of whether they were Leavers or Remainers. Then came the arrival of COVID-19. To be honest, at present, neither the UK nor the EU is in any position to be worrying about Brexit.

I have spent a total of over 40 years in the UK, during my secondary school years and as a working professional, and I would like to look back on the past four years since the referendum from an academic perspective. With a few exceptions, all universities here are national, but to maintain international competitiveness, they have traditionally recruited faculty from all over the world; as a result, many are from the EU. Although they are national institutions, business schools and similar departments have moved away from the uniform national salary scale to attract talent, with an increasing number of cases offering high salaries rare in academia. Because salaries for university faculty are regulated by the government in some EU member states, UK universities attracted many scholars from Northern Europe who are fluent in English, along with Southern European scholars who abandoned the Mediterranean sun, drawn by British salary levels and the strong British pound that existed prior to the Brexit vote.

Immediately after the Leave victory, it was predicted that EU nationals would return home or move to other EU countries for fear of rising anti-EU sentiment in the UK. However, there were also concerns about a brain drain as some British academic colleagues moved not only to EU countries but as far as Canada and Australia, disgusted by the government's attitude of pandering to the parochialism of the Leavers. On the other hand, some native British colleagues were pleased that high-paying posts held by EU nationals would become vacant and available to them. Like Japan and other developed nations, the UK is facing a declining birthrate and an aging population, and securing student numbers—and thus tuition revenue—is one of the challenges for universities. There are concerns that after withdrawal, EU students will be charged the same tuition as international students from outside the EU—three times that of domestic students—and that if work visas are required after graduation, finding employment in the UK will become difficult. Anticipating that students might avoid studying here for those reasons, universities are putting effort into attracting international students from outside the EU.

As a result, at some universities, 90 percent of the students are Chinese international students. While this is a result of being forced to introduce market competition by British government policy, universities are now acutely feeling the fear of relying on a single market without diversifying risk, as there is a threat that the number of overseas students will plummet next year due to COVID-19, which no one predicted. Keio University is a pioneer in international agreements, but in the UK as well, an increasing number of universities are forming agreements with universities worldwide, including within the EU, as a Brexit countermeasure to implement double degree programs, and some universities are establishing campuses or offices overseas to provide courses locally. Furthermore, now that all educational institutions, not just universities, have been forced online due to COVID-19, online courses that were previously underperforming may see a revival; however, since the local experience is a major factor for students when choosing a course, this may only be a temporary appeal.

Even while an EU member, the UK never joined the eurozone or agreed to the Schengen Agreement, continuing to protect its own currency and borders. Politically, reasons cited for leaving include EU budget contributions and the surge in immigrants from Eastern European member states after EU expansion, but behind this, perhaps there was a sense of discomfort for the UK—which is geographically not part of the European mainland—existing within an EU formed by continental nations, with the exception of Ireland. From my second year at Yochisha Elementary School, I traveled around the UK and the European continent by bus every summer with my father (the late Ryozo Tanaka, Professor Emeritus at Keio University), whose research subjects were the UK and Europe. I felt firsthand the reality of European countries sharing borders on contiguous land and the achievements of reflecting on a past of constant conflict to realize and maintain peaceful coexistence. Growing up in an island nation, I felt envious seeing guides and drivers freely manipulating the languages of various regions. After finishing the first term of my first year at Chutobu Junior High School, I accompanied my father on his research at Cambridge University, finished secondary school in the UK, and returned to Japan as part of the first generation of returnee students to enter the Department of Law in the Faculty of Law; I always thought how lucky I was to be able to live in the UK as a part of Europe.

Although the British government continues difficult negotiations with the EU, as far as one can see in ultra-cosmopolitan London, the level of interdependence between the UK and the EU remains high. While the entire world faces the COVID-19 crisis and international cooperation is essential, I hope that the voters who were born and raised as members of the EU will rediscover that cooperation with neighboring countries is indispensable and choose a path that maintains a tolerant society.