On the Interview Trail: Thoughts on Central Asia

I have been to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, twice: both times to interview finalists for the prestigious Open Society Institute PhD fellowships. The interviewing team each time included Phillip Watkins of OSI and two different sets of academics for each trip. All of us were seasoned travelers to places where no one could be accused of “going for sun and surf.”

To me, the airport at Dushanbe has a certain element of nostalgia to it. It reminds me of the New York La Guardia airport of my youth, and of my trips to Sri Lanka and to India in the early days of my academic career. In those days they seemed to resemble the early airports depicted in Hollywood movies of the 1930s and '40s. Airports at that time were airports, not fancy terminals, and with few amenities. It was all about the act of travel, and the function of the airport not as the destination, but the take-off point.

What did I see with an economist’s eye? I am certainly no stranger to the hardships and life of those living in the third world, though to many Americans and Europeans, visiting a country such as Tajikistan is a crash course in understanding the many basic, everyday things that we take for granted. Though not a fancy or a densely populated city, Dushanbe is a well-landscaped place and a center of commerce for the region. Its history is a rich one—one that combines this history of ancient trade routes through periods of communism to a modern place as the capital of a changing country. Dushanbe’s role as a trade center is seen in the multitude of ethnicities to be seen in the city. Its people, and its culture, are a hybrid of the region’s history.

As my research is on the economics of development, and in particular on labor force mobility and the role of education, this “mission” was interesting to me on both professional and personal levels. It is a very real and tangible illustration of my work as a professor and in particular as a development economist. Walking in the city and experiencing its culture and people was interesting. However, we were sent here to interact with Tajik students. What I found, to my delight, were students actively seeking educational opportunities outside the realm of their experience to heighten and grow both as individuals and as professionals who will come back and have a direct impact on their community and country. I found the Tajik students wonderful—they possessed drive and were embodied with strong senses of what is needed of them educationally, and the unique opportunities that OSI would be able to provide them with.

This being said, graduate study at the PhD level is grueling and rigorous. Our candidates are applying for specific disciplines, each of which requires a certain strength and ability. They are seeking entrance to a Western-style education and the learning experiences that it will afford. On a graduate level, certain prerequisite skills, achieved through education, need to be attained, not only to be able to pursue study in the field, but also to be able to successfully work in it. For example, economics employs a high level of mathematics and statistics, and also importantly, requires a high level of language skills both in written and verbal English. 

These are skills that all graduate institutions demand in order to make a proper assessment of a prospective student when considering them as a candidate for admission to graduate school. These skills must be current, demonstrated on standardized exams as well as appear second nature to the user. It was with these parameters in mind that the committee set out to not only evaluate, but also advise prospective students. Our goal is to help them succeed in their educational endeavors, and to encourage them to be able to meet that end.

I am often asked why, at this stage of my career, I still like to travel and explore new places and am eager to take on such assignments. My wife cynically says that all someone needs to do is wave an airplane ticket in front of me, and I will pack my bags. Truth be told, though the act of travel can be tiresome and often can be boring, I find that discovering new places and the experience of meeting new people and cultures exhilarating. It keeps me questioning the tenets of my work; it helps me see the issues that I teach in new and different lights. 

Meeting with prospective OSI students is a welcome challenge; to see issues through their eyes and experience, to hear of their hunger for education and the opportunities and personal challenges that it will bring. I have had the good fortune to know some of these students on the next stage of their education, as some of them have chosen to pursue their studies at the University where I teach. To me, as an academic and a teacher, this is what it is all about. This is what OSI is able to provide to these lucky students, and I am proud to be able to assist them in their journey to that goal.