Inequitable distribution of skilled specialists

Highly skilled people in medicine, science, engineering and agriculture are required to reduce the world's suffering. But the concentration of technological training and development centres in the developed world has resulted in a disproportionate number of skilled specialists in the West. The more equitable distribution of these skills is inhibited in many ways:

(a) The responsibility for training specialists is left in the hands of those most closely related to the field, who tend to follow the trend towards specialization; this tends to reduce the vision of the social role of those professionals.

(b) In many fields, expertise has an associated social status which may create a dichotomy between the values and expectations of the expert and those he is serving; rather than confront their differences, the expert and the recipient may avoid dealing with each other.

(c) The priority for distribution of skills is high in neither the government nor the private sector.

(d) There are inadequate mechanisms for mediating between the public's need and available expertise.

(e) Emphasis on individual values rather than social values mediates against professionals assuming a larger social responsibility.