The Star on the CV

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My NoSmalltalk session with Dr. Deepti Saini

by Albert Schiller

The Perception Gap

In science, unbiased data is supposed to be the only currency that matters. A hypothesis is either supported or not, as it is for a result. It is either reproducible or not. This is a pillar of the scientific method, a pure, objective meritocracy system. The reality, however, is often very different. Dr. Deepti Saini’s experience reveals an uncomfortable reality: in the global academic landscape, the origin of the data can be valued more than the data itself. The institution's prestige often acts as a filter, creating a systemic "perception gap" that challenges the notion of a merit-based system.

Judged by the Letterhead

Saini describes this bias using a well-documented case. The same person, with the same manuscript, containing the same science, will receive a vastly different reception depending on the letterhead it is printed on. "You sent it from Harvard. It's accepted like that," she explains. When the same work is sent from an Indian institution, it is often "looked at with suspicion." The feedback is not a critique of the methodology or the results. Instead, it is a condescending suggestion to have the manuscript "proofread by a native English speaker." This is not an evaluation of science but a human judgment of a scientist's geography.

A required Need for Validation

This systemic bias manufactures an artificial and supposedly damaging need for external validation. It forces many of India's brightest scientific minds to believe that their work will not be taken seriously on the global stage unless it is first legitimized by a Western institution. The goal of going abroad is often not to seek superior knowledge or infrastructure, which Dr. Saini argues has improved in India to meet the highest standards. Instead, the primary objective is to acquire the "star on their CV". This "star" is a stamp of approval from the West, a necessary credential to have one's work judged fairly abroad and by peers back home.

Unstoppable

This emotional origin story fuels what Shah calls his "unstoppable" drive. His resilience in the face of the rejections and failures inherent in building a coaching practice is not derived from professional ambition. It is anchored in his personal "why." When confronted with setbacks, he returns to the foundational question of why he started his journey in the first place. The memory of his mother and the mission that arose from it serves as an unwavering source of motivation. This connection transforms his work from a job into an imperative, explaining his capacity to persist through difficulties that might cause career professionals to quit.

The Brain Power Paradox

The hypocritical paradox is apparent. The West actively recruits and celebrates "brain power" from India. Dr. Saini notes that a significant number of doctors in the UK and scientists at NASA are of Indian origin. This acknowledges the high quality of talent produced by Indian education on an individual level. Yet, the global system simultaneously devalues the very Indian institutions and academic culture that produce that talent. It is a dynamic that celebrates the fruit while expressing suspicion of the tree, creating a continuous "brain drain" fueled by a manufactured need for external credibility.

The Path to Sovereignty

The "perception gap" can’t be reduced to an academic inconvenience. It embodies a significant barrier to India's intellectual sovereignty. Dr. Saini's work is a testament to the fact that world-class research can be done in India. The final step, she suggests, is for the system to recognize this fact on its own terms. True sovereignty will be achieved not when Indian scientists are finally fully accepted by the West but when the Indian scientific community has enough internal credibility and self-confidence that it no longer feels the need to seek the "star" from abroad. It is a shift from seeking acceptance to asserting an already existing reality.

5 Lessons with practical values-

Open Questions

1. Dr. Saini describes the pressure to get a "star on the CV" from a Western institution to be taken seriously. In your own career, have you ever felt the need to acquire a certain credential or brand association, not for the knowledge itself, but for the external credibility it would provide?

2. The "Brain Power Paradox" describes a system that celebrates foreign talent while devaluing the foreign institutions that create it. How have you seen this paradox play out in your own industry, and what is the long-term cost of this dynamic?