Free download from www.hsrc p ublishers.ac.za Prepared for the National Council on Innovation (NACI) by the Knowledge Management Group of the Human Sciences Research Council in parnership with CSIR Policy Published by HSRC Publishers Private Bag X9182, Cape Town, 8000 South Africa www.hsrcpublishers.ac.za © 2004 Human Sciences Research Council First published 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. ISBN 0-7969-2033-8 Cover by FUEL Design Produced by comPress Printed by Paarl Print Distributed in Africa by Blue Weaver Marketing and Distribution, PO Box 30370, Tokai, Cape Town, 7966, South Africa. Tel: +27 +21-701-4477 Fax: +27 +21-701-7302 email: booksales@hsrc.ac.za Distributed worldwide, except Africa, by Independent Publishers Group, 814 North Franklin Street, Chicago, IL 60610, USA. www.ipgbook.com To order, call toll-free: 1-800-888-4741 All other inquiries, Tel: +1 +312-337-0747 Fax: +1 +312-337-5985 email: Frontdesk@ipgbook.com Free download from www.hsrc p ublishers.ac.za Foreword vii Preface viii Acknowledgements x Executive summary xi Abbreviations xix Chapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 The context of the study 1 1.2 Terms of reference 4 1.3 Objectives 5 1.4 Components of the report 5 Chapter 2: Framework for understanding mobility among R&D workers 7 2.1 Introduction 7 2.2 Theoretical orientation 7 2.3 Policy 9 2.4 Methodology 24 Chapter 3: Quantifying the mobility of South Africa’s R&D workers 27 3.1 Introduction 27 3.2 South Africa’s human resources in science and technology 29 3.3 South Africa’s R&D workers 59 3.4 Key issues 68 Chapter 4: Mobility from the Perspective of organisations 69 4.1 Introduction 69 4.2 Issues concerning the mobility of South African R&D workers 69 4.3 Issues concerning mobility in priority fields of technology 77 4.4 Key issues Chapter 5: Mobility from the perspective of individuals 85 5.1 Introduction 85 5.2 What do the interviews tell us about the mobility of R&D workers? 85 5.3 Key issues 92 Chapter 6: Policy implications and recommendations 95 6.1 Introduction 95 6.2 Recommendations for the short term 95 6.3 Recommendations for the medium term 99 6.4 Recommendations for the long term 103 6.5 Key issues 104 iii ©HSRC 2004 Contents Free download from www.hsrc p ublishers.ac.za Appendices 109 Appendix 1 Terms of reference 109 Appendix 2 Another look at migration statistics 113 Appendix 3 List of organisations interviewed 120 Bibliography 122 Figures Figure 3.1 South Africa’s human resources basin 27 Figure 3.2 South Africa’s highly skilled human resources estuary 29 Figure 3.3 Total foreign students enrolled in South African HEIs 1985–2001 31 Figure 3.4 Nationality of SANSA members 31 Figure 3.5 Professional sectors of SANSA members 32 Figure 3.6 Field of expertise of SANSA members 32 Figure 3.7 South African population changes 1996–2002 33 Figure 3.8 Dynamics of South Africa’s population components 34 Figure 3.9 The relative size of the foreign student population in South Africa 35 Figure 3.10 Highest levels of education achieved by gender in 1996 37 Figure 3.11 Gender of HRST by qualification 1997-2002 38 Figure 3.12 Highest level of education achieved by race in 1996 39 Figure 3.13 Age of HRST in 1996 39 Figure 3.14 Age of disaggregated HRST in 1996 40 Figure 3.15 Foreign students enrolled in South African HEIs by region 40 Figure 3.16 Comparative regional nationalities of foreign students in 2000 41 Figure 3.17 Total population, 20 years and older, by skills level in 1996 42 Figure 3.18 Employed HRST by field of formal qualification 42 Figure 3.19 Employed HRST by level of qualifications 43 Figure 3.20 Employed HRST by qualifications and gender 43 Figure 3.21 Flows of South African HRST 44 Figure 3.22 Domestic HRST inflows 1987–2000 46 Figure 3.23 Inflows from immigrating non-South African HRST 1987–2001 47 Figure 3.24 Comparison of HRST immigrants by age 1997 and 2000 48 Figure 3.25 HRST immigrants by gender 1997 and 2000 48 Figure 3.26 Top ten sources of immigrants to South Africa 1997–2001 49 Figure 3.27 Sectoral employment in South Africa 1980–2002 50 Figure 3.28 Movements in HRST skills by level of formal qualifications 1987–2000 51 Figure 3.29 Honours (or equivalent) degrees 1987–2000 51 Figure 3.30 Master’s (or equivalent) degrees 1987–2000 52 Figure 3.31 Doctoral (or equivalent) degrees 1987–2000 53 Figure 3.32 Outflows from emigrating South African HRST 1987–2001 54 Figure 3.33 Comparison of HRST emigrants by age 1997 and 2000 55 Figure 3.34 HRST emigrants by gender 1997 and 2000 56 iv ©HSRC 2004 Free download from www.hsrc p ublishers.ac.za Figure 3.35 Top ten destinations of emigrating South Africans 1997–2001 56 Figure 3.36 Level of SC-R&D personnel education by gender 61 Figure 3.37 SC-R&D personnel occupations by gender 62 Figure 3.38 Level of SC-R&D personnel education by race 62 Figure 3.39 SC-R&D personnel occupations by race 63 Figure 3.40 Age of SC-R&D personnel 63 Figure 3.41 Comparative age structures of the highly skilled 64 Figure 3.42 SC-R&D personnel in 2002 by nationality 64 Figure 3.43 Non-South African SC-R&D personnel by region of origin 65 Figure 3.44 Reported destinations of departing SC-R&D personnel in 2002 66 Figure A2.1 Annual permanent migration of South Africa’s HRST 1997–2001 118 Figure A2.2 Regional emigration to immigration ratios 119 Tables Table 3.1 South Africa’s human resources in science and technology 1988–2002 30 Table 3.2 Comparative percentages of HRST in the adult population 34 Table 3.3 Comparative international statistics on foreign student composition for the year 2000 36 Table 3.4 Unemployment (expanded) of economically active population in 1997, 2000 and 2002 34 Table 3.5 Employment status by race in 1997 and 2002 38 Table 3.6 Inflows and outflows of South Africa’s HRST 1997–2001 45 Table 3.7 Comparison of four-yearly inflows 47 Table 3.8 Annual HRST outflows from mortality 1997–2002 53 Table 3.9 Under-reporting in South African emigration statistics for the top five destinations 54 Table 3.10 Comparison of four-yearly outflows 55 Table 3.11 Percentages of students studying abroad in 2000 57 Table 3.12 South Africa’s R&D workforce 1991–2002 60 Table 3.13 Inflows to science council R&D personnel 65 Table 3.14 Reported knowledge of R&D staff destinations 66 Table 3.15 Outflows from the science councils 67 Table 4.1 Skills development in the SC-R&D workforce 77 Table A2.1 Migration statistics from various sources 114 Table A2.2 Migration over four year periods 117 Table A2.3 Aggregate annual permanent migration flows for the last five years and cumulative totals for the last 15 years 117 v ©HSRC 2004 Free download from www.hsrc p ublishers.ac.za A study on the mobility of R&D workers Free download from www.hsrc p ublishers.ac.za Human capital, human knowledge, people – while we live in an electronic age, people are the most catalytic ingredient of the maelstrom of change, innovation and development that is the global knowledge economy. We live in a world in which specialist knowledge is in great demand and is therefore highly mobile. The major cities around which scientific and economic innovation is nurtured are increasingly multicultural and accommodating of the diversity of peoples on the planet, and this encourages mobility even further. Much of the knowledge in the science, engineering and technology disciplines is tacit knowledge, embedded within people who are not easy to replace. South Africa has, over the past four decades, experienced a significant outflow of research and development (R&D) workers, but is also experiencing inflows from other parts of the world, in particular from the African continent. Are the overall results of these movements and migrations generally beneficial to South Africa, or are they retarding the country’s ability to become more competitive and improve its global positioning with respect to key economic sectors? What strategies should we adopt to benefit from global (including South African) R&D mobility? In order to prepare a response to these questions, a collection of data and perspectives has been gathered and is presented here for consideration. The National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) initially conceived of this study during the course of visits by NACI council members to the South African science councils in August/September 2001. One of the recurring themes they encountered during discussion was the loss of R&D professionals and the inability to retain both experienced and recent entrants into the institution. It was agreed that R&D mobility was not necessarily a negative factor, but NACI council members were uneasy that they were unable to answer the question of whether this mobility was indeed proving beneficial or not. During the same period, there was significant debate on whether South Africa should open its doors and welcome non- citizens into the R&D workforce. This is the first study on R&D mobility to be conducted in South Africa. We have attempted to lay bare some of the facts and figures that offer early insights and build our understanding of how to address the challenges. The recommendations in Chapter Six offer practical responses that are immediately clear from the study. In the context of the national R&D strategy, providing effective measures for the long- term health of the national R&D workforce is a key policy consideration. Luci Abrahams Reference Group Convenor, NACI vii ©HSRC 2004 Foreword Free download from www.hsrc p ublishers.ac.za viii ©HSRC 2004 South Africa’s re-emergence from isolation has placed it under intense pressure in areas such as international trade and the mobility of human resources. These are areas in which most other competitor countries have been developing policies and taking advantage of new opportunities in this time of intensifying globalisation. It is not easy to play ‘catch- up’ in the fast-paced world economy, where developing economies have to compete with industrialised countries with far greater economies of scale and influence on the global economy. The mobility of highly skilled workers, particularly the R&D workforce, was the central concern of this project. In media reports and public addresses, concern is often raised about the loss of highly skilled human resources from South Africa. Mobility of this nature is a world-wide trend, however, and many industrialised countries, such as the United Kingdom (UK), face similar problems. Many of their top researchers migrate to the United States (US), where prospects for research are viewed as better and brighter. Emerging economies such as India (and now China), with a large pool of highly skilled graduates, see many of their most talented young knowledge workers leaving for highly paid jobs abroad and prospects of upward mobility that are scarce in their own country. South Africa also experiences the problem of a decline in skilled immigration to the country since the 1980s. At the same time, there has been a surge in the number of immigrants from other parts of Africa, both legal and illegal. National policies and regulations on immigration are complex and have not yet developed to the stage that they are in harmony with the Human Resource Development Strategy for South Africa, the National Research and Development Strategy and the National Plan for Higher Education. These three strategies drive the development of highly skilled human resources in South Africa, and the R&D workforce in particular, and must operate harmoniously with other policy instruments of government. Since 1994, South African policy makers have been involved in a prolific period of developing new policies and legislation. Over the next few years, it will be important for these policies to be more closely integrated, particularly as regards the development of highly skilled human resources. Even more importantly, the National Research and Development Strategy and the Human Resource Development Strategy are both strongly indicator based and need accurate and timeous data to monitor the progress and success of the strategies. Mobility does not refer only to the movement of people between countries but also the movement of people within systems. Questions such as why trained researchers leave their research fields for management positions, and where the next generation of science and technology workers is going to come from, need to be asked and answered. South Africa currently has problems in providing the kinds of data and information required, particularly in the important areas of informal and small business skills and gender and race demographics. The data gathering system is improving, but the present project shows how critical it is to have clear information if we are to make informed decisions on issues related to the mobility of the R&D workforce. Preface Free download from www.hsrc p ublishers.ac.za Further afield, the European Union (EU) has been paying close attention to promoting the mobility of its R&D and other skilled workers within the EU, since the flows of these people promote understanding between countries, help form enduring and productive networks between countries and institutions and are an important driver of innovation. The OECD has a similar interest, and works closely with the EU in this regard. The EU is nevertheless concerned about outward migration of high level human resources, especially to the US, and the EU 6th Framework Programme includes financial aid to attract the return of scientists and researchers and to promote their circulation. The message is that mobility needs to be understood, and that it should be managed by making the home environment as attractive as possible and maintaining contact with the diaspora. South Africa, as a leader in R&D and science and technology (S&T) in Africa needs to understand the forces and pressures that drive mobility in South Africa and in other African Union countries. Co-operative agreements and good intentions between countries are only as strong as the people that actually implement them, and mobility is an important factor in promoting co-operation and understanding. Lastly, a deeper understanding of the links between investment in R&D and the innovation process in firms is required. Globalisation is driving a decentralisation of innovation away from the old company laboratory operating alongside corporate headquarters. Value chains for both production and knowledge production are now global, with innovation occurring at many disjoint sites. R&D outputs are therefore sourced globally in ways that both depend upon and are restricted by mobility. Mobility is therefore a much wider concept than the ‘brain drain’, and that is what this study seeks to explore. Michael Kahn Executive Director, Knowledge Management Group, HSRC ix ©HSRC 2004 preface Free download from www.hsrc p ublishers.ac.za This project is the first to be completed by the new HSRC Knowledge Management Group. It also represents the first project on which the group collaborated with a fellow science council, namely the CSIR. It is therefore pleasing to acknowledge how the various working relationships have developed, both within the HSRC and in conjunction with the CSIR. Additional funding from NACI also permitted a research intern from the University of the Western Cape to be included in the project. In particular, appreciation must be extended to the team responsible for designing and conducting the national R&D Survey, on which questions on mobility have been ‘piggy backed’. This kind of synergy between surveys is somewhat unusual. It offers a possible methodology for the future that is both cost-effective and less demanding of respondents in the longer term. Many individuals made time within their busy schedules to participate in interviews, and we thank them for sharing their experiences and insights with us to enrich the project. The project was overseen by a reference group consisting of the following NACI subcommittee: Ms L Abrahams (Convenor), Prof. M Ramashala and Mr T Setiloane. Mr Deena Naidoo was seconded from the NACI Secretariat to support the reference group. The project team would like to thank the Reference Group and other members of NACI for their help and guidance in undertaking the project and also the NACI Secretariat for support and encouragement. Those that attended the NACI workshop on mobility in September 2002 are thanked for their time and for enriching the debates around mobility. Simon Netshifhefhe of the National Research Foundation (NRF) is thanked for assisting with higher education data. Yolanda du Plessis of the CSIR is gratefully acknowledged for constructing the estuary figures for Chapter Three. Maidimetja Mamashela is thanked for assisting with the SANSA (South African Network of Skills Abroad) data. Inputs by Mercy Brown are acknowledged. The anonymous reviewer is thanked for the many useful comments and insights provided. The Southern African Migration Project is thanked for their assistance and discussions on the project. Simone Esau is thanked for assistance in compiling the mobility data on the science councils. The staff of Statistics South Africa’s User Information Services and Marketing Section are thanked for providing valuable assistance in data collection. The many others that provided information and data for the study are also gratefully acknowledged. Thanks must also be extended to the administrative staff of the HSRC and CSIR, and in particular to Ms Valda West of Knowledge Management. x ©HSRC 2004 Acknowledgements Free download from www.hsrc p ublishers.ac.za [...]... technology from the current respective ratio of 49: 26: 25 per cent to 40: 30: 30 per cent The National Plan notes that further changes to the proposed ratios are not possible in the short to medium term because of the low number of students leaving the school system with the requisite proficiency in mathematics The importance of maintaining a balance of humanities graduates for key professions is also... funded through the NSFAS The Ministry of Education has, however, expressed reservations about the effectiveness of a fund that does not cover the full costs of study The motivation for this approach is apparently to allow the limited funds to be spread over a wider net of students 15 ©HSRC 2004 A study on the mobility of R&D workers The Ministry is reviewing the suitability and likely impact of the NSFAS,... selected aspects of the mobility of R&D workers in South Africa The main objectives of the project, as outlined in the terms of reference, were to: • Quantify as reliably as possible the scale and nature of R&D personnel turnover and flows at a cross-section of higher education institutions (HEIs), SETIs and industry players • Identify the causes behind these flows (from the perspective of both employers... dissemination of the ICT technologies that have permitted the dispersal of value chains across the globe Since physical resources can equally well be processed close to their point of production or shipped to where energy is cheap, the key factor in these decentralised chains is the ability to organise, control and monitor the production process This is one aspect of the knowledge economy Another is the mobility... understanding of the national (and international) system of innovation Data and analyses that presumably investigate the same phenomenon can become incomparable because of nuances in definition The literature therefore highlights the importance of clearly defining the object of one’s analysis It is an area of research in which no single model clearly captures all of the major dimensions Asking the right... developed to tackle these problems on three main fronts: the transformation of the public schooling system, the upgrading of worker skills and the restructuring of the higher education system School system The transformation of the public schooling system has the aim of providing a more equitable education system with access for all and the provision of appropriate education and improved skills for learners... upward movement of skills that will enhance the base of the S&T and R&D workforce Restructuring the higher education sector One of the more controversial areas of transformation in South Africa is the restructuring of the public higher education system The 21 universities and 15 technikons are the most important institutions in the system with respect to maintaining and replenishing the S&T 12 ©HSRC... only to return when the brackish waters are replenished This chapter briefly introduces the general framework within which the study was conducted, the project terms of reference and objectives and the approach and layout of the report 1.1 The context of the study There has been significant comment on the ‘brain drain’ from South Africa by political and business leaders and the media The situation is... a country to manage the mobility of its highly skilled workers to best advantage for the sake of economy and society 4 ©HSRC 2004 Introduction It was recognised that knowledge of the extent, nature, dynamics, functions and the dysfunctions of the mobility of R&D workers was still very elementary, and terms of reference of the project included providing a better understanding of the dynamics surrounding... rejuvenation of higher education’ Preliminary arrangements for the mergers and associated activities were announced early in 2003 About R3.1 billion has been budgeted to cover the cost of the mergers, and a merger unit is to be established within the Department of Education to assist the institutions with the changes that will take place during the period up to 2005 The outcome of these mergers and the impact . including the establishment of centres of excellence, is part of the National R&D Strategy. The development of centres of excellence will be critical if the. multicultural and accommodating of the diversity of peoples on the planet, and this encourages mobility even further. Much of the knowledge in the science, engineering