DST Human Capital Development Initiatives

P Matutu & T Auf der HeydePPC briefing10 September 2014

• HCD Landscape: Institutional context

• HCD Landscape: Policy framework

• HCD Systemic challenges

• DST HCD Interventions:– Established researchers– Emerging researchers– Post-graduate students

• Science promotion

• Conclusion

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Presentation outline

Human Capital Development (HCD) landscape: Institutional context

• DBE: responsible for basic education (over R205 billion including provinces; 25,826 schools, 11,932,881m learners)

• DHET: responsible for Higher Education (over R30 billion for universities; 25 universities; 972,000 students)

• DST: responsible for research development and support, and innovation across the national system of innovation (R6.5 billion; 720,000 learners, 9,771 students)

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HCD landscape:National policy framework

• National Development Plan (NDP) ... by 2030 – produce more than 100 doctoral graduates per million of the

population (increase the number of Africans and women);– produce an additional 100,000 PhDs;– at least 75% of academics with doctoral degrees;– acknowledges the importance of hosting science expositions

as a way of stimulating interest in science among young people.

• Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF)– will implement the first five-year of the three phases of the

NDP– the DST contributes to Outcome (5): a skilled and capable

workforce to support an inclusive growth path

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HCD landscape:Doctoral output

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HCD landscape:PhDs / million population

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• National Research and Development Strategy (2002):– Human Capital Development, – investment in S&T infrastructure,– knowledge generation,– strategic management of the public S&T system,

and– "centres and networks" of excellence

• Ten Year Innovation Plan

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HCD landscape:DST policy framework

HCD systemic challenges

• Supervisory capacity to improve postgraduate completion rates (38.6% of academic staff with PhDs).

• Low bursary values resulting in low progression ratios (from Bachelors to Honours to Masters to PhD) and high demographic drop-off.

• Poor demographic representation at established researcher levels.

• Small science system (currently producing 34 PhDs per million population, GERD as percentage of GDP less than 1%).

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HCD systemic challenges:Demographic drop-off

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For 2012 U/B H M D

Number enrolled 781,711 85,500 49,560 13,965

Number of graduates 120,394 33,284 10,331 1,878

% of black enrolled 83 78 66 60

% of female enrolled 58 63 48 43

HCD systemic challenges

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• High attrition rates (e.g. 2001 PhD cohort):– 46% enrolled never completed degree– 29% dropped out in first two years– 36% drop-out in natural sciences, 53% in humanities

• Low bursary values (e.g. 2013/14)

H M D PDValue of NRF bursary (R) 40,000 55,000 90,000 178,000

Approx after-tax starting salary (R) 100,000 140,000 180,000 210,000

DST HCD Interventions

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Established researcher level

Emerging researcher level

Next-generation level

Science Promotion

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HCD conceptual framework

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NRF Investment in HCD

Established researchers:Black male/female permanent instruction staff as a

proportion of total (nationally)

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Established researchers:(NRF supported)

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Established researchers:(NRF investment excl. bursaries)

Established researchers:Flagship initiatives

• The South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI)• The Centres of Excellence (CoE) Programme

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• Intended to expand and renew the SA scientific research base.

• Address historical racial, gender and age imbalances.

• Align with socio-economic development priorities.• Increase number of world class researchers in SA.• Awarded chairs 149.• Next call for at least 20 chairs:– Black or female candidates will be prioritised, and

international candidates– Two or three will be co-funded with industry.

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Established researchers:SARChI

Established researchers:SARChI-funded students

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• In 2013, research chairs supervised a total of 1612 students– 662 funded through SARChI– 950 funded through external funds.

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Established researchers:SARChI Publications

Established researchers: CoEs

• Physical or virtual centres of research which enable collaboration across disciplines and institutions;

• Student training environments;

• Conducting locally and internationally relevant competitive research; and

• CoEs– Established CoEs = 14

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Established researchers: CoEs

Catalysis / c*Change UCT ACCESS CSIR

Strong Materials WITS Palaeosciences WITS

Invasion Biology SU Food Security UWC

Biomedical TB Research UCT Scientometrics and STI

Policy SU

Birds as Keys to Biodiversity UCT

Integrated Mineral and Energy Resource

AnalysisUJ

Tree Health Biotechnology UP Human Development UKZN/UP

SACEMA SU Mathematics and Statistical Sciences WITS

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Established researchers: CoEs

Established researchers: Conclusion

• The DST interventions (CoEs and SARChI) are yielding results in terms of the expansion of the supervisory capacity of the science system,

• A number of organisations are sponsoring chairs outside the DST/NRF system and universities are adding full professors trying to emulate the SARChI example,

• The initiatives are gradually succeeding in improving the race and gender inequity among the students supervised, and

• Additional investments in these initiatives would be essential to further expand the system while concomitantly improving student representation.

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Emerging researchers: Initiatives

• DST/NRF interventions (2014/15)– Postdoc programme (+/- R100m)– Thuthuka programme (+/- R50m)– Competitive funding for unrated researchers

(+/- R22m)– Research career advancement fellowship

programme

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Emerging researchers:Average grant values

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Funding Year Number of Grants Average grant value excluding bursaries

(Rand)2008 682 55,100

2009 615 66,607

2010 748 131,125

2011 646 93,141

2012 667 104,557

2013 622 142,407

Emerging researchers: Demographic profile

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Emerging researchers: NRF Investment Excl. Bursaries

Emerging researchers: conclusions

• While significant investments were made in this category by the DST, it has not led to significant growth in numbers of supported researchers, but in the growth of average grant.

• In terms of equity, consistent growths have been in the proportion of white women, while proportional representation for blacks and black women fluctuates.

• Careful implementation of these programmes is necessary to improve black (particularly black women) participation.

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Post-graduate students:Students supported through NRF

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Post-graduate students:NRF support as percentage of total

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2009 2010 2011 2012 2014

Honours 3 5 3 5 5

Masters 5 8 7.4 6.8 10

Doctoral 12 17 15.9 14.5 18

Average 5 7 8.8 8.8 11

Total 5,131 8,221 7,383 9,771

Cost (Rm) 157 305 258 541

Postgraduate students: Demographics of NRF funded students

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 Actual 2008/9

Actual 2009/10

Actual 2010/11

Actual 2011/12

Actual 2012/13

Actual 2013/14

Ministerial Guideline

Undergraduate

Total Number 195 286 425 451 470 455  

Black 37% 76% 54% 62% 63% 69% 80%

Women 49% 56% 45% 41% 41% 46% 55%

Honours

Total Number 1 215 1 696 2 718 1 723 2 951 3 149  

Black 66% 73% 75% 79% 78% 77% 80%

Women 55% 59% 54% 54% 56% 58% 55%

Master’s

Total Number 2 475 2 373 3 566 3 564 3 397 3 704  

Black 36% 53% 54% 54% 57% 58% 80%

Women 51% 52% 50% 49% 50% 52% 55%

Doctoral

Total Number 1 370 1 384 1 937 1 979 2 031 2 265  

Black 36% 52% 55% 56% 54% 55% 80%

Women 50% 51% 48% 48% 48% 50% 55%

Post-doctoral

Total Number 222 304 405 402 460 653  

Black 26% 40% 40% 42% 46% 49% 80%

Women 41% 48% 42% 40% 45% 44% 55%

Postgraduate students: NRF Investment

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Post-graduate students: Conclusions

• Over the past five years government has supported at least 34,030 postgraduate students (5,131 in 2009/10 to 9,771 in 2013/14), with more than doubling of the financial investments from R194.77 million to R541.18 million, during this period.

• In terms of black representation significant improvements have been made over the past 6 years.

• In terms of women the targeted proportional representation is close to being reached at masters and doctoral levels.

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Science promotion:school level interventions (2014 to 2019)

• In February 2014, the DST adopted the “Framework for the DST’s activities in support of basic education” (2014-2019).

• The Framework supports basic education through:– Promotion of public engagement with science– Enhancing effective teaching and learning environment through

technology and educational research

• The science engagement programme comprises an established portfolio of activities, which in many ways:– complement the objective of the National Strategy for

Mathematics, Science and Technology Education; and– generally contribute to teaching and learning of mathematics and

science.

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Science promotion:National Science Week

• Contributing to increased learners’ participation in mathematics and science– Activities like the annual National Science Week (NSW),

science festivals and science centre-based science awareness exhibits stimulate learners’ interest in mathematics and science, which enhances the DBE’s intentions to increase learners’ participation in these learning areas.

– Up to 70% of about 700,000 participants in the NSW and festivals were learners, mainly in the FET band.

– Up to 65% of the 1.6 million visitors to science centres in 2013 were learners (GET and FET combined).

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Science promotion:Science Centres

• Science centre-based support– In addition to pure science awareness exhibits, science

centres have hands-on exhibits that are linked to curriculum concepts across grades.

– Of the 33 science centres supported by the DST:• 27% have fully equipped science laboratories, assisting learners

from under-resourced schools with experiments.• 42% have mobile laboratories, conducting scheduled school visits

to assist with experiments. • 12% collaborated with their provincial departments of Education in

the delivery of teacher in-service training in the 2013 academic year.

• Up to 90% annually conduct supplementary tuition and/or exam preparatory sessions in Mathematics and Physical Science.

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Olympiads and competitions

• STEMI Olympiads and competitions– STEMI Olympiads and related competitions create an opportunity

for learners to apply and refine knowledge gained from formal classroom learning and teaching.

– The DST supports 8 STEMI Olympiads and related competitions, which collectively contributed to 28% of the just above 1 million people who participated in the DST-supported science engagement programme in the 2013/14 financial year.

• SET career awareness– DST campaign on SET careers include profiling mathematics and

science teaching.• 10,000 copies of SET career booklet to be distributed in the 2014/15

financial year.

• First SET career workshop on the SET career booklet involving about 60 subject advisers of Limpopo happening during the NSW 2014 in Limpopo.

Science Promotion: Learners and public reached in 2013

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Science Promotion: SAASTA Investment

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Conclusions• More resources are required to grow the

established researcher initiatives and increase the values of average grants.

• More funds will be invested in the post-graduate category, but tighter monitoring of demographics and completion rates will be essential.

• Graduated PhDs need to be tracked to establish level of retention in system.

• Strategy documents, legislation, and more funds will be required to improve science promotion initiatives.

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Enkosi

Siyabonga

Siyathokoza

Thank you

42Presentation www.dst.gov.za