Dr. Brissett’s research focuses on how contemporary educational policies impact socio-economic opportunities in “developing” countries, particularly those of the post-colonial Caribbean, as well as other states around the world. His current work analyzes the intersection of neo-liberal principles and post-colonial social welfare policies, and the results that ensue. Dr. Brissett’s research is especially attentive to issues of educational access and equity for marginalized groups in the era of rapid neo-liberal globalization. His interdisciplinary scholarship draws upon postcolonial theory and critical education policy studies to examine Caribbean education and development through work in three key but interconnected areas: 1) education policy reform for educational equity; 2) Caribbean regional responses to global discourses of sustainable development; and 3) Caribbean high skilled emigration and continuity
In one of his more recent research projects, Dr. Brissett examines how skilled emigration — defined as emigrants holding a bachelor’s degree or extensive/equivalent experience in a given field — from the Caribbean impacts educational policy nationally and regionally. This study highlights the complexity of developing effective policy to address a phenomenon, such as skilled emigration, that is subject to global forces (free-market principles, the free movement of labor) within the knowledge economy.
Dr. Brissett’s professional experiences have been quite diverse but are primarily focused on educational expansion and equity in low-resourced settings. He has worked on educational policies, programs and projects in the Caribbean to extend tertiary educational programs and services to fifteen countries in the region. He has also worked on educational reform initiatives for the Higher Educational system in Afghanistan.
In an earlier career, Dr. Brissett worked in Jamaica’s banking sector, as well as co-managed a government subsidized student-loan facility for low-income higher education students in the Caribbean.
Dr. Nigel Brissett was born in Jamaica, located in the northern Caribbean — a region with a rich but turbulent political, cultural and economic history. Much of this region’s experiences, as well as Dr. Brissett’s personal story, have shaped the social justice orientation of his intellectual work as he critically engages with the material and ontological worlds.