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Edwin Naidu
Minister of Higher Education, Science Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, has launched the first comprehensive National Tracer Study of Doctoral Graduates in South Africa.
“Our current National Tracer Study of Doctoral Graduates in South Africa is the first such comprehensive study by the government and our higher education institutions and research institutions,” said the Minister.
Speaking at the launch last Friday, he said previous studies were limited in focus and scope, thus not systemic and never zoomed into specific sectors, certain disciplines or even lower qualification levels.
Building on the Water Research Commission’s capabilities in conducting the Tracer study of Water PhDs in South Africa, the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) assigned Water Research Commission (WRC) as the project manager for this National PhD Tracer study.
“Through this launch, we aim at the dissemination of key study findings and recommendations, as well as stimulating a discussion with key stakeholder groups, be it government, business, higher education institutions, civil society, and students, on the value of the PhDs in society and the economy,” said Nzimande.
Present at the launch were the DSI Director-General, Dr Phil Mjwara; DSI Deputy Director General Research, Development and Support, Imraan Patel; DDG from both DSI and DHET; Representatives and leaders of Science Councils; National Research Institutions, particularly Dr Jennifer Molwantwa, the CEO of the WRC which partnered with the DSI on this study; and Drs Fulufhelo Nelwamondo, and Phethiwe Matutu, the CEOs of the NRF and USAf, respectively; Prof. Johann Mouton, the Director of the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Scientometrics and STI Policy (SciSTIP), who led the research team; including representative of the private and business sectors, among other stakeholders.
Nzimande said the correlation between the weighted number of PhDs, as in the number of PhDs per million of the population and the country’s economic and innovation performance is well established globally.
With the pivotal role that PhDs play in the country’s socioeconomic development, he added that South Africa has not empirically demonstrated and domesticated this cause-and-effect relationship.
“The question is, have we, as South Africa, empirically traced the socio-economic impact of our PhDs?
Both the Department of Science and Innovation’s White Paper on STI and the STI Decadal plan seek to expand the research enterprise by supporting more PhDs and building a solid pipeline of human capabilities.“
Nzimande said the tracing of PhD holders/graduates into their careers and occupations in different sectors, including the entrepreneurial industry, is essential and justified given that the PhD is an apex qualification obtained after a considerable amount of investments (of upwards of 20 years) in learning, teaching and supervision support, mainly at the State’s or tax-payers expense.
Advanced countries have been conducting studies to trace the mobility and careers of PhD holders. The EU countries, for example, have commissioned these studies under the general theme or title of the “Mobility and Careers of Doctorate holders” – to trace what is called the “stock and flows” of PhDs in and out of different sectors and EU member state countries.
With a significant portion of PhDs enrolled and graduating from South African universities coming from outside SA and with SA having positioned itself as a PhD training destination, especially for the continent, it is thus important for the country to answer questions relating to the brain gain, brain drain or brain circulation of these highly skilled human resources and human capabilities.
“I want to avoid going into details by immersing myself in the findings and recommendations of the study, but as a system, we have been concerned with both the supply and demand side of the PhDs,” said the Minister.
“While we were making strides and successive leaps in increasing the numbers of PhDs graduating annually from our universities, the question of the absorptive capacity of these PhDs by the country’s economy has been lurking in the background.”
This study reflects on the PhD absorptive capacity of the private sector, the public research system and higher education institutions.
Most importantly, this PhD tracer study will be a useful input into that digital platform even though the National PhD Tracer study is open to more than just NRF-funded students.
“As the Department entrusted with driving research and innovation, we pride ourselves in using well-researched data and evidence in making decisions about critical policy issues or interventions,” Nzimande concluded.
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