Malta’s Brain Drain
By: Shane J. Ralston
Tags: Europe, Corruption, Education, Racism, Malta

Malta’s Brain Drain

The University of Malta is in the bottom quartile of 2,000 Higher Ed institutions in a recent world ranking — why?

In a recent study by the Centre for World University Rankings, researchers found that the University of Malta (UoM) ranked 1,762 out of 2,000 global universities, with a total rating of 66.7/100.

The question is: Why? The short, imprecise answer is that it’s a small institution within a small country. To arrive at a longer, more exact answer requires delving into the many influences on the university and the culture, both within and immediately outside the organization.

One national university, many influences

The UoM is the national university of Malta, the island-nation in the Mediterranean archipelago. Like the island-nation itself, UoM has a hodgepodge of influences:

Roman Catholicism (the institution’s motto is "we should bring forth fruit unto God"), European intellectual exchange (Malta is part of the EU and the university advertises itself as involved in the Bologna Process), Middle Eastern and Asian investment (some academic programs receive direct investment from interests in China, Dubai and other nations wishing to form partnerships with Malta), Corrupt/racist/inhumane regional politics (the current Education Minister, Owen Bonicci, who oversees UoM, is a renowned human rights violator, a reputation he earned while Minister of Justice).

Why such a low ranking?

There are many plausible explanations for UoM's low place in the world ranking:

Structural racism: Malta is widely known for its institutional racism. Keeping people with black skin and/or Muslim faith out and taking care of the Catholic Maltese loyalists, so that they don’t flee the island, are national obsessions. This racist mindset is everywhere, even among the most educated on the UoM campus. Black students and faculty are rare sightings. Xenophobia: Faculty, staff and administration jobs at UoM are highly sought after. Few foreigners occupy them, even when they are the best candidates for the positions. Even if a Maltese candidate is unqualified, the logic goes, it is better for a Maltese loyalist to fill the position, not a foreigner (whose loyalties are uncertain). The island-nation has been repelling foreign invaders for centuries. Why let them take over now? Cronyism and nepotism: As mentioned, employment as UoM faculty, staff and administrator is a great prize in Malta. Most are reserved for Maltese, especially friends and family of political appointees and elected officials. Doctorates are awarded willy-nilly, often as political favors, so that the university resembles a diploma mill. (Indeed, so many corrupt politicians are addressed as “Dr.” in Maltese society that the title no longer signals academic achievement.) Poor educational system: An excellent higher education system is rarely free-standing. It must be supported by a network of primary and secondary schools of close to equal quality. Educational achievement in Malta is shockingly low (see Malta Independent Staff 2018; European Commission’s Education and Training Monitor Report 2018).The Maltese school drop out rate rivals the majority of countries in Europe. So, UoM has a shallow pool of domestic talent from which to draw upon — whether for recruiting students, faculty or administrators. Myopic worldview: Although one would expect Malta to be the home of a very cosmopolitan and globally-engaged intellectual community, most of the academics tend to look inward, to seek solace in the traditions and customs of their own society, as well as to reject much that passes as progress in Europe and around the globe. You could say that there has been, over the years, a closing of the Maltese mind. Only recently have they come to accept LGBTQ rights.

Human capital flight

The other reason the UoM is likely ranked so low is that much of the indigenous talent flees the island, seeking better opportunities. They have left in large numbers during the political turmoil of both Nationalist and Labour governments (especially during the corrupt Mintoff years) for such far-flung places as the UK, Australia, the U.S. and continental Europe.

Brain drain has had deleterious consequences for the Maltese economy. Pay for medical doctors in the UK is triple what it is in Malta. So the incentives for educated Maltese professionals to leave the island are immense. Meanwhile, those who stay are usually not the best and brightest.

Who remains at UoM? Those with strong links to the island, its culture and its politics. The students, faculty and administrators who decide to remain, rather than seek work at higher ranked foreign institutions, are not the best and brightest. They’re the Maltese loyalists. They’re the die-hards. They look at the world rankings and, to justify their own moral and professional choices, they call it fake news.

How might UoM increase its place in the world rankings? The university would do itself a favor by recruiting and hiring more foreign talent. But before it can accomplish this, it must first overcome its history of structural racism and xenophobia, which prevent it from seeing far beyond its own horizons.