Flight of the Flamingos potx

Foreword viiPreface viiiAcknowledgements xExecutive summary xiAbbreviations xixChapter 1: Introduction 1 1.1 The context of the study 11.2 Terms of reference 41.3 Objectives 5 1.4 Compon

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Foreword viiPreface viiiAcknowledgements xExecutive summary xiAbbreviations xix

Chapter 1: Introduction 1

1.1 The context of the study 11.2 Terms of reference 41.3 Objectives 5

1.4 Components of the report 5

Chapter 2: Framework for understanding mobility among R&D workers 7

2.1 Introduction 72.2 Theoretical orientation 72.3 Policy 9

2.4 Methodology 24

Chapter 3: Quantifying the mobility of South Africa’s R&D workers 27

3.1 Introduction 273.2 South Africa’s human resources in science and technology 293.3 South Africa’s R&D workers 59

3.4 Key issues 68

Chapter 4: Mobility from the Perspective of organisations 69

4.1 Introduction 694.2 Issues concerning the mobility of South African R&D workers 694.3 Issues concerning mobility in priority fields of technology 774.4 Key issues

Chapter 5: Mobility from the perspective of individuals 85

5.1 Introduction 855.2 What do the interviews tell us about the mobility of R&D workers? 855.3 Key issues 92

Chapter 6: Policy implications and recommendations 95

6.1 Introduction 956.2 Recommendations for the short term 956.3 Recommendations for the medium term 996.4 Recommendations for the long term 1036.5 Key issues 104

Appendix 2 Another look at migration statistics 113Appendix 3 List of organisations interviewed 120

Bibliography 122 Figures

Figure 3.1 South Africa’s human resources basin 27Figure 3.2 South Africa’s highly skilled human resources estuary 29Figure 3.3 Total foreign students enrolled in South African HEIs

1985–2001 31Figure 3.4 Nationality of SANSA members 31Figure 3.5 Professional sectors of SANSA members 32Figure 3.6 Field of expertise of SANSA members 32Figure 3.7 South African population changes 1996–2002 33Figure 3.8 Dynamics of South Africa’s population components 34Figure 3.9 The relative size of the foreign student population in

South Africa 35Figure 3.10 Highest levels of education achieved by gender in 1996 37Figure 3.11 Gender of HRST by qualification 1997-2002 38

Figure 3.12 Highest level of education achieved by race in 1996 39Figure 3.13 Age of HRST in 1996 39

Figure 3.14 Age of disaggregated HRST in 1996 40Figure 3.15 Foreign students enrolled in South African HEIs by region 40Figure 3.16 Comparative regional nationalities of foreign students

in 2000 41Figure 3.17 Total population, 20 years and older, by skills level in 1996 42Figure 3.18 Employed HRST by field of formal qualification 42

Figure 3.19 Employed HRST by level of qualifications 43Figure 3.20 Employed HRST by qualifications and gender 43Figure 3.21 Flows of South African HRST 44

Figure 3.22 Domestic HRST inflows 1987–2000 46Figure 3.23 Inflows from immigrating non-South African HRST

1987–2001 47Figure 3.24 Comparison of HRST immigrants by age 1997 and 2000 48Figure 3.25 HRST immigrants by gender 1997 and 2000 48

Figure 3.26 Top ten sources of immigrants to South Africa 1997–2001 49Figure 3.27 Sectoral employment in South Africa 1980–2002 50

Figure 3.28 Movements in HRST skills by level of formal qualifications

1987–2000 51Figure 3.29 Honours (or equivalent) degrees 1987–2000 51Figure 3.30 Master’s (or equivalent) degrees 1987–2000 52Figure 3.31 Doctoral (or equivalent) degrees 1987–2000 53Figure 3.32 Outflows from emigrating South African HRST 1987–2001 54Figure 3.33 Comparison of HRST emigrants by age 1997 and 2000 55Figure 3.34 HRST emigrants by gender 1997 and 2000 56

Figure 3.35 Top ten destinations of emigrating South Africans 1997–2001 56Figure 3.36 Level of SC-R&D personnel education by gender 61

Figure 3.37 SC-R&D personnel occupations by gender 62Figure 3.38 Level of SC-R&D personnel education by race 62Figure 3.39 SC-R&D personnel occupations by race 63Figure 3.40 Age of SC-R&D personnel 63

Figure 3.41 Comparative age structures of the highly skilled 64Figure 3.42 SC-R&D personnel in 2002 by nationality 64Figure 3.43 Non-South African SC-R&D personnel by region of origin 65Figure 3.44 Reported destinations of departing SC-R&D personnel

in 2002 66Figure A2.1 Annual permanent migration of South Africa’s HRST

1997–2001 118Figure A2.2 Regional emigration to immigration ratios 119

Tables

Table 3.1 South Africa’s human resources in science and technology

1988–2002 30Table 3.2 Comparative percentages of HRST in the adult population 34Table 3.3 Comparative international statistics on foreign student

composition for the year 2000 36Table 3.4 Unemployment (expanded) of economically active population

in 1997, 2000 and 2002 34Table 3.5 Employment status by race in 1997 and 2002 38Table 3.6 Inflows and outflows of South Africa’s HRST 1997–2001 45Table 3.7 Comparison of four-yearly inflows 47

Table 3.8 Annual HRST outflows from mortality 1997–2002 53Table 3.9 Under-reporting in South African emigration statistics for the

top five destinations 54Table 3.10 Comparison of four-yearly outflows 55Table 3.11 Percentages of students studying abroad in 2000 57Table 3.12 South Africa’s R&D workforce 1991–2002 60Table 3.13 Inflows to science council R&D personnel 65Table 3.14 Reported knowledge of R&D staff destinations 66Table 3.15 Outflows from the science councils 67

Table 4.1 Skills development in the SC-R&D workforce 77Table A2.1 Migration statistics from various sources 114Table A2.2 Migration over four year periods 117Table A2.3 Aggregate annual permanent migration flows for the last five

years and cumulative totals for the last 15 years 117

A study on the mobility of R&D workers

Human capital, human knowledge, people – while we live in an electronic age, peopleare the most catalytic ingredient of the maelstrom of change, innovation and developmentthat 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 whichscientific and economic innovation is nurtured are increasingly multicultural andaccommodating of the diversity of peoples on the planet, and this encourages mobilityeven further

Much of the knowledge in the science, engineering and technology disciplines is tacitknowledge, embedded within people who are not easy to replace South Africa has, overthe 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, inparticular from the African continent Are the overall results of these movements andmigrations 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 keyeconomic sectors? What strategies should we adopt to benefit from global (includingSouth African) R&D mobility?

In order to prepare a response to these questions, a collection of data and perspectiveshas 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 NACIcouncil members to the South African science councils in August/September 2001 One ofthe recurring themes they encountered during discussion was the loss of R&D

professionals and the inability to retain both experienced and recent entrants into theinstitution It was agreed that R&D mobility was not necessarily a negative factor, butNACI council members were uneasy that they were unable to answer the question ofwhether this mobility was indeed proving beneficial or not During the same period, therewas 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 haveattempted to lay bare some of the facts and figures that offer early insights and build ourunderstanding of how to address the challenges The recommendations in Chapter Sixoffer practical responses that are immediately clear from the study

In the context of the national R&D strategy, providing effective measures for the term health of the national R&D workforce is a key policy consideration

long-Luci AbrahamsReference Group Convenor, NACI

©HSRC 2004

South Africa’s re-emergence from isolation has placed it under intense pressure in areassuch as international trade and the mobility of human resources These are areas in whichmost other competitor countries have been developing policies and taking advantage ofnew 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 withindustrialised countries with far greater economies of scale and influence on the globaleconomy

The mobility of highly skilled workers, particularly the R&D workforce, was the centralconcern of this project In media reports and public addresses, concern is often raisedabout 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 researchersmigrate to the United States (US), where prospects for research are viewed as better andbrighter

Emerging economies such as India (and now China), with a large pool of highly skilledgraduates, see many of their most talented young knowledge workers leaving for highlypaid 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 thecountry since the 1980s At the same time, there has been a surge in the number ofimmigrants from other parts of Africa, both legal and illegal National policies andregulations on immigration are complex and have not yet developed to the stage thatthey are in harmony with the Human Resource Development Strategy for South Africa,the National Research and Development Strategy and the National Plan for HigherEducation These three strategies drive the development of highly skilled humanresources in South Africa, and the R&D workforce in particular, and must operateharmoniously with other policy instruments of government

Since 1994, South African policy makers have been involved in a prolific period ofdeveloping new policies and legislation Over the next few years, it will be important forthese policies to be more closely integrated, particularly as regards the development ofhighly skilled human resources Even more importantly, the National Research andDevelopment Strategy and the Human Resource Development Strategy are both stronglyindicator 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 themovement of people within systems Questions such as why trained researchers leavetheir research fields for management positions, and where the next generation of scienceand technology workers is going to come from, need to be asked and answered SouthAfrica 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 andrace demographics The data gathering system is improving, but the present projectshows how critical it is to have clear information if we are to make informed decisions onissues related to the mobility of the R&D workforce

Further afield, the European Union (EU) has been paying close attention to promoting themobility of its R&D and other skilled workers within the EU, since the flows of thesepeople promote understanding between countries, help form enduring and productivenetworks 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 toattract 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 bymaking the home environment as attractive as possible and maintaining contact with thediaspora South Africa, as a leader in R&D and science and technology (S&T) in Africaneeds to understand the forces and pressures that drive mobility in South Africa and inother African Union countries Co-operative agreements and good intentions betweencountries 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 theinnovation process in firms is required Globalisation is driving a decentralisation ofinnovation away from the old company laboratory operating alongside corporateheadquarters Value chains for both production and knowledge production are nowglobal, with innovation occurring at many disjoint sites R&D outputs are thereforesourced 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 KahnExecutive Director, Knowledge Management Group, HSRCpreface

This project is the first to be completed by the new HSRC Knowledge ManagementGroup It also represents the first project on which the group collaborated with a fellowscience council, namely the CSIR.

It is therefore pleasing to acknowledge how the various working relationships havedeveloped, both within the HSRC and in conjunction with the CSIR Additional fundingfrom NACI also permitted a research intern from the University of the Western Cape to beincluded in the project

In particular, appreciation must be extended to the team responsible for designing andconducting the national R&D Survey, on which questions on mobility have been ‘piggybacked’ This kind of synergy between surveys is somewhat unusual It offers a possiblemethodology 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 NACIsubcommittee: Ms L Abrahams (Convenor), Prof M Ramashala and Mr T Setiloane MrDeena 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 NACIfor their help and guidance in undertaking the project and also the NACI Secretariat forsupport and encouragement

Those that attended the NACI workshop on mobility in September 2002 are thanked fortheir time and for enriching the debates around mobility

Simon Netshifhefhe of the National Research Foundation (NRF) is thanked for assistingwith higher education data Yolanda du Plessis of the CSIR is gratefully acknowledged forconstructing the estuary figures for Chapter Three Maidimetja Mamashela is thanked forassisting with the SANSA (South African Network of Skills Abroad) data Inputs by MercyBrown are acknowledged The anonymous reviewer is thanked for the many usefulcomments and insights provided The Southern African Migration Project is thanked fortheir assistance and discussions on the project Simone Esau is thanked for assistance incompiling the mobility data on the science councils The staff of Statistics South Africa’sUser Information Services and Marketing Section are thanked for providing valuableassistance in data collection The many others that provided information and data for thestudy are also gratefully acknowledged

Thanks must also be extended to the administrative staff of the HSRC and CSIR, and inparticular to Ms Valda West of Knowledge Management

Fears about the impact of a brain drain of the highly skilled from South Africa have hadsignificant media and political attention over the last two years Against this background,the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) commissioned the Human SciencesResearch Council (HSRC) to conduct a study on the broader question of the mobility ofpersonnel in the research and development sector That mobility has become an area ofconcern is hardly surprising: South Africa is now open for business and is part of theworld community, a community that itself is subject to the benefits and vagaries ofglobalisation.

Speculative capital seeks out the best return So too do knowledge workers whose tools

of trade travel in total intimacy with them Hence we offer the parody: ‘Knowledgeworkers have nothing to lose but their brains They have a world to win.’

This project has approached the issues of brain drain, brain gain, brain circulation, andbrain development not as disasters, but as component realities of mobility that must bemanaged for what they are, both good and bad

The mobility of skilled workers, particularly research and development (R&D) workers, is

an important aspect of South Africa’s national system of innovation, but it has had limitedscrutiny The present analysis should therefore be viewed as an initial investigation into

an area that is fundamental to national competitiveness and has important sectoral,regional, continental and international dimensions Some of the major themes thatemerged from the project, as well as areas that warrant further policy and researchattention, are highlighted in this overview

Definitional issues

1 Skills are essential to the development of the South African economy It is thereforeessential that all stakeholders work to formulate consensus around definitions ofskills levels that are appropriate to the South African experience but that retaininternational comparability The project made distinctions among four levels of skills,but its choices were often driven by the availability of data rather than the

underlying analytical merits of the definitions To co-ordinate research efforts andadvance our understanding of mobility in South Africa, definitions need to bereached regarding:

• Where/how is the line drawn between the skilled workers/population and thenon-skilled?

• What differentiates the highly skilled workers/population from the skilled?

• Which further qualifications/occupations distinguish individuals as humanresources in science and technology (HRST)?

• Finally, what is meant by a South African R&D worker?

conflated, which makes it virtually impossible to distinguish highly skilledindividuals The difficulties are compounded by the inherent incentive for people tomisrepresent their intentions to the South African authorities when they are

emigrating or immigrating Finally, even general data on the internal mobility of theSouth African population are extremely limited Our study confirms the earlierfindings of Brown, Kaplan and Meyer (2001) regarding the under-reporting ofemigration to major destination countries such as the United States, Canada, theUnited Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand This flow is up to four times as large

as the figures declared by Statistics South Africa

Respondent fatigue

3 Although it is clearly important to gather better and more consistent data onmobility, it must be remembered that the resource demands on organisations forassembling this information are far from trivial There is a need to work across theprimary information sources currently being gathered to determine how they can beused to increase the coverage on mobility and to ensure that any additional datademands on organisations take this burden into account While firms all maintaintheir own personnel data and must comply with the requirements of employmentequity and skills development legislation, very limited data are kept on the reasonsfor employees’ departure Exit interviews are as inaccurate as emigration data

Addressing the base

4 A critical and central issue, which forms a bottleneck in the system, is the supply ofmathematics and physical science graduates from the school system The number ofAfrican school leavers with higher grade passes in mathematics and physical scienceremains at about one fifth of all school leavers with these qualifications It is critical

to address this in the medium and long term if South Africa is to grow its S&T base.South Africa already spends the equivalent of about 4.8 per cent of GDP on

college/school education, compared with 0.7 per cent of GDP on higher education,

so finding affordable ways to deal with the problem, one of the most damagingconsequences of apartheid policies, are paramount

Building HRST

5 It is necessary to examine the percentage of the adult South African population thatcomprises the country’s stock of human resources for science and technology,relative to other countries In Table 3.2 on p 39, comparison with other nationsshows that the percentage of South Africa’s adult population who are qualified HRST(9 per cent) is higher than in Brazil (7 per cent), Indonesia (5 per cent) and Turkey(8 per cent), but lower than in Zimbabwe (10 per cent), Mexico (13 per cent) andSouth Korea (23 per cent) In reflecting on the implications of this statistic, it isimportant to consider the extent to which South Africa is actually working according

to a co-ordinated strategy to advance its skills levels and enhance its technologicalcompetitiveness It is also necessary to recognise the time lag between the inception

of strategy and the sustained production of skills

6 The stark imbalances in gender and racial representativeness in the science andtechnology system generally, and in research in particular, require urgent attention.

Unfortunately, the inflows from the higher education system, which in turn aredependent on the feed-through from the schooling system, will take considerabletime to change This is particularly true in the fields of S&T The profile of the highlyskilled workforce is thus changing only slowly over time, although there appear tohave been significant improvements (albeit from a low base) in the science councilsub-system since 1994

7 There are gaps in education policy, specifically regarding support, financial andotherwise, for postgraduate and doctoral students and for postdoctoral research Forexample, South Africa produced only 274 PhD graduates in the natural sciences andengineering in 2000 South Africa needs to review its policies and support measuresfor postgraduate students to ensure that we have a competitive and viable S&T andR&D workforce for the future The shortage of S&T and R&D workers needs to beaddressed by more comprehensive funding for postgraduate research students andparticularly by the support of postdoctoral fellows Again, these initiatives could belinked to centres of excellence programmes to build new capacity in the S&Tsystem The NEPAD S&T Initiative includes the development of continent-widecentres of excellence (NEPAD 2003)

Brain gain

8 This study has found that foreign students, and in particular African students,represent an increasingly important component of the research capacity of SouthAfrican higher education institutions Figure 3.3 on p 31 illustrates this rise, withgrowth from around 10 000 students in the late 1980s and early 1990s to over 30 000

by the early 2000s In common with many universities and programmes in othercountries, such as the US and France, the viability of postgraduate programmes atsome university departments actually hinges upon the presence of foreign studentsand the government subsidies associated with them As such, this dependency isalso symptomatic of the difficulties South African nationals face in pursuit of higher-level qualifications

9 South African higher education institutions (HEIs) have become a continental hubfor post-secondary training In Table 3.3 on p 36, the relative uniqueness of thisposition in an international context is shown As a percentage of its total HEIenrolments, foreign students in South Africa comprise 5.3 per cent This situation ismore similar to more economically developed nations such as Australia (where 12.5per cent of students are from foreign countries), the UK (11 per cent) and the US(5.2 per cent) than other economically developing nations like Argentina (0.2 percent), South Korea (0.1 per cent) and Malaysia (0.7 per cent) This role as acontinental hub for African higher education is crucial for fostering initiatives like theAfrican Union (AU) under the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)platform It also represents a potential for a win-win situation, in that foreign skillshelp develop a domestic research system with absorptive capacity for South Africanemployment

10 R&D workers that come to South Africa do so for a variety of reasons For manyAfricans, South Africa provides better research opportunities and environments.However, it is not always easy for them, as they keep having to prove themselvesand to find acceptance among both white and black colleagues Some R&D workershave been brought into the country on contract for a specified period because theyhave special skills.

11 Certain academics have come to South Africa from leading institutions in Europe.Their stories illustrate that while there are R&D workers that are leaving SouthAfrica, there are others that consider South Africa to be an exciting place to conducttheir research

Brain circulation

12 In an increasingly networked world, from which South Africa was largely excluded

in the past, it is important for South Africa to provide mechanisms that promote theexchange and transfer of skills with the rest of the world This is particularly true inspecialist areas where South Africa lacks capacity to provide a stimulating andenabling environment

13 A short-term focus on mechanisms to encourage skills transfer for people that comeinto the South African R&D system for short periods is recommended There is aneed to formulate a human mobility strategy to manage the reality of South Africanand foreign mobility, particularly regarding the highly skilled in a globalised andcompetitive environment South Africa must decide on the best mix betweenimporting skills and growing local skills Time will be needed to realise the benefits

of this mix Foreign skills need to be harnessed to create more regional absorptivecapacity In the short term, there should be a focus on exogenous skills, andendogenous capacity should be allowed to develop in the medium to long term Atthe same time, it is important to keep the development and equity agenda alive byimporting skills that will assist in the growth and development of relevant expertise

in the country

14 A common trend, both nationally and internationally, and in many fields, is forresearchers, technicians and specialists to move into management careers These areoften the brightest and more ambitious specialists While there are benefits of havingsenior managers with direct experience in research there are problems in a smallR&D workforce such as in South Africa where the loss of a handful of topresearchers can have drastic effects on capacity in a particular field Certain firmshave responded to this trend by setting up parallel tracks for career pathing in bothmanagement and specialist areas Such dual mechanisms are also needed in thepublic sector

15 Regarding the importation of foreign researchers, improved processes for issuingtemporary residence and work permits and a better organised system of hostinginstitutions can have a positive impact on the mobility of researchers This should besomething that the Department of Science and Technology attends to in partnershipwith other ministries, departments (notably Home Affairs) and relevant institutions

Mobility needs to be considered as an issue that affects all government departments.

Clarity in legislation is essential, and speedy processes are needed to deal withapplications for entry and residence or work permits The imposition of traininglevies in fields such as R&D is likely to act as a disincentive and a furtherdisadvantage to South Africa relative to highly advanced economies

Brain drain

16 Recent trends in the origins and destinations of migrating South Africans show thebeginning of a change in migration patterns This is seen in Figure 3.26 on p 49 and Figure 3.35 on p 56 Immigrants are increasingly from other economicallydeveloping nations Other African nations are increasingly the destinations ofemigrating South Africans

17 R&D workers that leave the country may do so for a variety of reasons Some leavefor personal reasons and indicate that the crime problems have made them feelunsafe The mobility of R&D workers, especially young R&D workers, is a globalphenomenon Many young researchers would like to work in larger, more intenseresearch environments that offer greater challenges, and now that South Africa ispart of the global world, there are more avenues open for them to explore

18 A point of unexpected interest from the initial 2001/2002 R&D Survey data onscience council R&D (SC-R&D) workers is the very small percentage of foreignersemployed as SC-R&D personnel There appears to be very little foreign employment

at science councils, since only 2 per cent of employees are reported to be non-SouthAfrican citizens Whether this is a reporting bias from personnel departments, withforeign nationals being undercounted, is not clear and will be an aspect for furtherinvestigation once the complete R&D Survey data become available However, thecurrent tight regulations regarding the employment of foreigners could inhibitemployers from employing non-citizens People from other countries, who are inpossession of work or residence permits, may also simply be regarded as SouthAfricans from the employer’s perspective and for official records

Age shall not weary them

19 The age profile of science council R&D workers from the R&D Survey is compared

in Figure 3.41 on p 64 to the analysis of Mouton, Boshoff & Bailey (2002) The 2002R&D Survey shows a more normal distribution of young and old workers thanexpected Studies by the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies at the University ofStellenbosch indicated that only 15 per cent of research outputs (publications) wereproduced by researchers under the age of 40, and almost 50 per cent were

produced by researchers over the age of 50 (Mouton et al 2002) While academicresearchers need to be included for a clearer picture, it appears that there may bemore young researchers in the system than previously believed If young researchersare not publishing their research findings this could be an indication of a lack ofinterest in a long-term career in research

20 There has been significant collaboration between the mobility study reported onhere and the ongoing 2001/2002 R&D Survey Many of the issues identified in thisproject will be more fully developed once the complete results of the R&D Surveybecome available.

Policy and research issues

21 This study has shown some of the difficulties that are encountered when workingwith data and information on the mobility of R&D workers Only when sustainedinstitutional capacity to perform and interpret surveys and data sources is in placewill we more clearly understand the mobility flows in the country The present studywas able to draw on various sources of information, but there were problems inobtaining adequate, reliable time series and appropriate sectoral data This is also aninternational problem, however, and very few countries (such as Canada and some

of the Nordic countries) have comprehensive mobility surveys and data in place

22 Perhaps there is too great a focus in South Africa on R&D and innovation within thefirm, and we are not looking closely enough at the human resources and technologytransfer links within the (increasingly global) value chain Policy makers need toguard against judging R&D and innovation potential on the basis of in-firm activitiesalone

23 South Africa is often described as an early adopter of imported technologies, andperhaps the country has merit in this regard The skills of technology transfer andadaptation need to be supported and encouraged

24 The history of isolation in business, academia and research, and its effects on SouthAfrica’s reintegration into the global economy, have been more profound than isgenerally believed Serious challenges face the country as it develops and builds anew, viable, internationally competitive, innovative and equitable research system aspart of a more comprehensive economic and social approach to addressing globalflows and forces A deeper understanding of the social dynamics of the sciencesystem is an important element in creating stronger links between home anddiaspora science communities

25 A government department such as Home Affairs, which does not have a science,technology and innovation or economic mission, has to deal with an important

aspect of S&T worker mobility through the Immigration Act It is important that

government departments that are orientated towards science, technology andeducation, as well as other players, communicate and negotiate with Home Affairs.Alternatively, the department could be given a specific mission and mandateregarding S&T and be held accountable for this

26 Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) appear to be poorly understood,particularly by smaller firms, higher education institutions and even public bodies.Their importance and relevance needs to be explained and demonstrated Thecurrent focus of SETAs is basic skills development, but they provide a model and

mechanism for skills development at a higher level, which is potentially appropriate

to the S&T and R&D workforces

27 Finally, the research findings and recommendations of this project must bedisseminated to as broad an audience as possible and must find wide application

Without this, the usefulness of the project will be limited Through disseminationand discussion, this project can advance interest in and understanding of thisimportant, but relatively neglected, dimension of South Africa’s national system ofinnovation

Research infrastructure

28 The strengthening of South Africa’s S&T and R&D infrastructure, including theestablishment of centres of excellence, is part of the National R&D Strategy Thedevelopment of centres of excellence will be critical if the country is to retain itsbest researchers and, moreover, become a popular destination for visiting scientists

Centres of excellence are a sound basis on which to build capacity, but they should

be interactive, and their purposes and viability within the global value chain must beclear Industry and international involvement in their establishment will be vital fortheir long-term sustainability

Concluding remarks

29 Discussions with a variety of organisations showed that it is important for business,government, higher education institutions and science councils to realise that SouthAfrica is faced with a strong resource constraint surrounding highly skilled

individuals and that these sectors and institutions will have to address this issue intheir policy formulation and planning initiatives Actions in one sector will affectother sectors, and developing networks and an understanding of sectoral dynamicsand initiatives are therefore important steps in developing a co-ordinated andrelevant mobility strategy

30 The study has not found evidence of a ‘brain drain’ crisis, although it did notinvestigate specific sectors such as public healthcare, where problems may be moreacute The ‘brain drain’ may be overestimated, in that the rate of return to SouthAfrica is not clear South Africans have only really been welcome to travel and workfreely in other countries since 1994, and many of those currently abroad may return

in due course Even if they do not, they may still retain both formal and informallinks with the country, and mechanisms such as the South African Network of SkillsAbroad (SANSA) and the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business(UCT-GSB) World Bank Diaspora network attempt to support and develop theselinks for the purposes of development in South Africa One thing is clear, however:

if South Africa’s public research system is perceived to be weak or eroding, in thatthere are few job opportunities or resources available, this will encourage nationalresearchers, especially the young, to seek positions in other countries Likewise, aweak S&T system will not attract the flows of skilled foreigners required to stimulatethe system

31 An HSRC study in 1998 suggested that there appeared to be a particularly cripplingshortage of up to 1 500 software engineers, but others appear to have a differentview One notes with pleasure, therefore, an announcement that a major softwaredevelopment house has relocated from Orlando, Florida to Cape Town Arguably,this relocation is not based on climatic preference, and probably has much to dowith the common language and, as the chief executive officer (CEO) of thecompany involved notes, ‘a good skills base of people [in Cape Town]’ This latestdevelopment gives impetus to those that would like to see the development of

‘Silicon Cape’ and points to the need for a much deeper study of the components ofSouth Africa’s regional system of innovation

AECI African Explosives and Chemical IndustriesAPEC Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation

CHE Council on Higher EducationCSIR Council for Scientific and Industrial ResearchDACST Department of Arts, Culture, Science and TechnologyDoE Department of Education

EAP Economically active population

EOC Educational Opportunities CouncilETI Environmental Technologies IndustryETQA Education and Training Quality Assurer

FDI Foreign direct investmentFET Further Education and TrainingFTE Full-time equivalent

GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and TradeGEAR Growth, Employment and Redistribution policyHDI Historically disadvantaged institution

HEI Higher education institutionsHEMIS Higher Education Management Information SystemHRD Human resource development

HRST Human resources in science and technologyHSRC Human Sciences Research Council

HWI Historically white institutionICI Imperial Chemical IndustriesICT Information and Communication TechnologyIkS Indigenous Knowledge Systems

IKS Indigenous Knowledge SystemsLFS Labour Force Survey

MBA Master’s in Business AdministrationMIDP Motor Industry Development ProgrammeNACI National Advisory Council on InnovationNEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s DevelopmentNGO Non-government organisations

NQF National Qualifications Framework

NRF National Research FoundationNRTF National Research and Technology ForesightNSA National Skills Authority

NSB National Standards BodiesNSF National Skills FundNSFAS National Student Financial Aid Scheme NSI National System of Innovation

OBE Outcomes-based educationOECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentOEM Original equipment manufacturer

OHS October Household SurveyR&D Research and developmentRDP Reconstruction and Development ProgrammeRSA Republic of South Africa

S&T Science and Technology

SA South Africa / South AfricanSADC Southern African Development CommunitySALT Southern African Large Telescope ProjectSAMP Southern African Migration Project SANSA South African Network of Skills AbroadSAPSE South African Post-Secondary Education SAQA South African Qualifications Authority

SET Science, Engineering and TechnologySETA Sector Education and Training AuthoritySETI Science, Engineering and Technology InstitutionSGB Standards Generating Bodies

SIMRAC Safety in Mine Research Advisory CommitteeTHRIP Technology and Human Resources for Industry ProgrammeUCL University College London

UCT University of Cape TownUCT-GSB University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UP University of PretoriaUWC University of the Western CapeWits University of the Witwatersrand

Chapter 1: Introduction

The flamingos migrate only to return when the brackish waters are replenished.

This chapter briefly introduces the general framework within which the study wasconducted, the project terms of reference and objectives and the approach and layout ofthe report

1.1 The context of the study

There has been significant comment on the ‘brain drain’ from South Africa by politicaland business leaders and the media The situation is described in alarmist terms ascritical, but there has been limited analysis of the international trends in this regard, or ofthe more subtle issues underlying the phenomena of ‘brain drain’ and ‘brain gain’

There has also been little consideration of the benefits that can be drawn from the flows

of skills between economies, a flow that many countries, both developed and developing,are taking advantage of There is some confusion as to whether South Africa is in braindrain crisis, or is just affected by natural market flows, for which appropriate remedies are

required As a report in Business Day (20 February 2003) notes, a UK information

technology (IT) company is relocating a facility from Orlando, Florida to South Africabecause ‘there is a good skills base of people here that will give us the opportunity todevelop one of our core products further and faster than we would be able to do inOrlando where it has been based This move will create 250 local jobs.’ This study aims

to uncover these and other factors

A worldwide problem is the difficulty of distinguishing the science and technology (S&T) workforce from the national workforce, and the research and development (R&D)workforce within the S&T workforce Countries that manage to overcome these difficultieshave had to develop and conduct specific surveys based on the Organization for

Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Canberra Manual approach Given

the paucity of relevant data on S&T and R&D human resources in South Africa, it istherefore difficult to obtain a clear picture of the mobility of R&D workers This studyessentially draws on, and makes the best use of, available data on the S&T and R&Dworkforce and the mobility of R&D workers both within the South African S&T systemand internationally

There are concerns that, before and since 1994, South Africa has experienced a loss ofkey human resources from the country through emigration Over the same period, theS&T system has been undergoing major transformation, which includes increasingpressures on research institutions to generate their own incomes as they seek to addressnew, broader and more equitable mandates

A claim, perhaps based on anecdotal evidence, is that the outcome of these and otherpressures has been that the more internationally mobile researchers have left institutions

to seek more stimulating research environments elsewhere in the world Otherresearchers have apparently been lured from research into management and other non-R&D environments, where salaries and other conditions of employment are moreattractive At the same time, there are concerns that South Africa’s immigration policy hasbecome very restrictive since 1994, and that this is exacerbating the skills shortage in thecountry

South Africa clearly has a problem with the influx of illegal immigrants throughneighbouring states The flow of these illegal immigrants increases at times of economicand social crisis in other countries, as people come to South Africa in search of

opportunities The onus rests on immigration legislation both to deal with potentialimmigrants and skilled workers from other developing and developed countries, and tomanage the problem of ‘illegals’ and the legitimate concerns of the unemployed Thisdemands a fine balance in regulations The current regulations are cumbersome While intheory they allow very high quotas of skilled workers to enter, they may in fact serve as abarrier because of the complex process of scrutiny and the high fees structure for permits

The stark imbalances in gender and racial representativeness in the S&T system generally,and in research in particular, require urgent attention Unfortunately, the inflows from thehigher education system, which in turn are dependent on the feed-through from theschooling system, will take considerable time to change This is particularly true in theS&T fields The profile of the highly skilled workforce is therefore only changing slowlyover time, although there have been significant gains in the science council sub-system

World-wide, the choice of careers has grown as economies become more complex andglobal The emerging reality is that of lifelong learning, with frequent career changes Theattraction of a career in research thus appears not to be as strong as it used to be Manyother careers are far more lucrative and attractive

Mobility studies are concerned with the relationships among all the forces in an economythat tend to attract or repel people and influence their career choices Any studies of themobility of R&D workers investigate a very small sector of the population, on which thereare a paucity of reliable historical data on which to base a study of flows into and out thesystem

More data are available on the national human resources in science and technology(HRST), broadly defined as comprising people with a minimum of a first diploma ordegree The type of data available on HRST are quite varied, however, and conclusionsare difficult to draw

The approach of this project was therefore to use as much available data and information

as possible and also to draw on literature, international data and policy information Datafrom primary sources were obtained through interviews with representatives of

organisations and by constructing personal case studies to elicit new and usefulinformation for understanding the factors driving migration in the S&T and R&Dworkforce Moreover, the National Advisory Council on Innovation’s (NACI) R&D WorkerMobility study was able to benefit from the parallel national R&D Survey, which wasconducted by the same HSRC unit This situation made it possible, at no cost to the NACIstudy, to include questions on mobility in the ‘Frascati’ questionnaire, and meant that theNACI study had the potential to reach a much larger sample of respondents In practice,however, only the science council data were available within the time period of the NACIstudy It is hoped that the Frascati mobility data on the other sectors will yet be availablefor processing during the course of 2003

The conclusions drawn on domestic mobility need to be tempered with the realisationthat globalisation is an overarching phenomenon over which developing countries have

little control As is the case with the factors promoting investment, if South Africapositions its S&T and immigration systems unfavourably with respect to the rest of theworld, it will lose ground It is an inescapable fact of global life that countries such asTaiwan and Canada are able to create thousands of new, well-funded university chairs

The other side of this coin (so to speak) is the role of our country in the Southern AfricanDevelopment Community (SADC) region and, through the New Partnership for Africa’sDevelopment (NEPAD), for Africa as a whole

Over the last 40 years, the industrialised countries have seen dramatic shifts in thecomposition of their economies as the mines and smokestack industries have given way

to service industries By 1995, 48 per cent of the Canadian population aged 25-64 had apost-secondary education (a proxy for knowledge workers), compared with an OECDaverage of 23 per cent In most OECD countries, knowledge-based industries account for40-50 per cent of business sector value added and 30-40 per cent of employment Thisshift in the nature of production is intimately associated with the unfolding informationand communication technology (ICT) revolution In addition, the changing nature of workand new relationships between capital and labour have given rise to what is regarded as

a new ‘techno-economic paradigm’ (Mansell & Wehn 1998)

This post-Fordist mode of production, though far from uniformly in place, calls forthflexibility of labour and manifests across many spheres of value addition The flexibility oflabour is often narrowly understood to entail capital determining how, when and wherehuman capital is to be deployed The broader view would include that knowledgeworkers are frequently themselves able to decide on where, when and how to work, andhow much to work for Knowledge capital may indeed march to a different drum Thismarch is what R&D worker mobility is about One might parody the CommunistManifesto thus: ‘Knowledge workers have nothing to lose but their brains They have aworld to win.’ In practice, of course, there are many intermediating factors that determinewhere and when one can work – our parody is just that – a parody – since there is amarket for knowledge workers, as for other skills

What then of South Africa? The service sector of the economy, including financialservices, was the most dynamic through the 1990s and now accounts for the majority ofthe formally employed It might be argued, therefore, that the country is moving towardsthat vague concept of the ‘knowledge economy.’ Maybe Unlike many other developingcountries, South Africa, with its first world-third world dichotomy, joined the computerage alongside the OECD states, has a functioning national system of innovation, anddisplays many attributes associated with the advanced economies Its challenge liesprecisely in addressing the dichotomy, lest it be swamped by the burden of its past

Financial services, private medical care, insurance, minerals management, armsproduction, automotive components, agribusiness, to name but a few, are world-classindustries where knowledge is managed for shareholder benefit Extending such practicesacross society is the task of development, a challenge that critically rests upon theavailability of high level skills This requires synergy across education, training, labour,and industrial and immigration policy This may sound like a tall order, but the trackrecord of the country suggests that it can be done As the national R&D Strategy notes,the abandonment of mission-driven technology programmes, which guarded theperceived security needs of the apartheid state, now leaves the S&T system apparentlydirectionless We suggest that this need not be the case Instead, decision-makers have a

choice to make Do they leave the production of knowledge capital to chance through alaissez faire approach, or, the fiscus willing, is it possible to engage more vigorously with

a ‘person-power’ planning system? This would imply particular (research and) technologymissions across government, each linked to clear knowledge capital developmentprogrammes and funded at a suitable level Such a shift in thinking entails a shift from ablind supply side approach to one linked to demand It is straightforward to adduceevidence of the disjuncture The recently published Curriculum Statement for Grades 10-

12 (DoE 2002) includes the telling declaration: ‘The proposal of the Qualifications and Assessment Policy Framework Grades 10-12 (Schools)that mathematical literacy and lifeorientation should be part of fundamental learning, poses serious challenges to thesystem the training of teachers to teach these subjects is a major challenge Given thereality of unreliable or non-existent data, the scale of the challenge can only be

extrapolated from current Senior Certificate enrolment figures.’

The need for reliable data and excellent information could not be more pressing

1.2 Terms of reference

One of the most frequently mentioned vulnerabilities that NACI encountered during itsannual site visits to science, engineering and technology institutions (SETIs) in 2000 wasthe inadequate provision of appropriately skilled and experienced researchers andtechnical support staff The problem took a range of forms, including:

• Significant numbers of experienced and productive professionals resigning, beingretrenched, or leaving the organisation for various other reasons

• The cost of capacity development among novice researchers

• The often low quality of research training offered by higher education institutions

• The revolving door phenomenon among middle and top black management staff

It became clear that the inadequate provision and suspect sustainability of a senior R&Dworkforce were already impacting negatively and threatening to upset the achievements

of the S&T system

NACI then commissioned the HSRC to undertake a project that was to focus on thevarious dimensions of the mobility of R&D workers in South Africa in the domain ofscience and technology In this investigation, R&D workers will refer to ‘researchers,

technicians, and equivalent staff, and other supporting staff’ (Canberra Manual, 1995: 28)

The construct ‘mobility’ will be used to refer to ‘a flow not only between sectors, regions,

and countries but also between occupations’ (Canberra Manual, 1995: 14), while the

construct ‘brain drain’ shall refer to ‘the migration of highly qualified personnel’ (ibid.)

While brain drain is a negative phenomenon that describes the permanent loss of skillsfrom a country, mobility is a more positive concept describing the human resource flowsbetween sectors, regions, countries and occupations and the consequent learning,networking and transfer of knowledge and understanding that occurs It is important for acountry to manage the mobility of its highly skilled workers to best advantage for thesake of economy and society

It was recognised that knowledge of the extent, nature, dynamics, functions and thedysfunctions of the mobility of R&D workers was still very elementary, and terms ofreference of the project included providing a better understanding of the dynamicssurrounding mobility In particular the project was to:

• Assess factors such as the extent, nature, dynamics, functions and dysfunctions ofR&D worker mobility

• Assess the implications of the mobility on the productivity of the national system ofinnovation (NSI) and programmes of research capacity development

• Develop appropriate strategies

1.3 Objectives

The project was committed to producing a report covering selected aspects of themobility 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 andflows at a cross-section of higher education institutions (HEIs), SETIs and industryplayers

• Identify the causes behind these flows (from the perspective of both employers andemployees)

• Provide estimates of the R&D worker shortages in the key areas of technologyexpansion

• Assess the extent to which the R&D flows are productive or dysfunctional

• Provide seminal illustrative case studies of such mobility over a five-year period

• Conduct a workshop for the assessment of the findings and the drafting of anintegrated report

• Formulate a range of appropriate policy options, including appropriateimplementation strategies

• Provide guidelines for measuring the impact of such strategic interventions

• Demarcate areas for further research

1.4 Components of the report

The report consists of six chapters, including this introductory chapter Chapter 2 provides

a framework for understanding the mobility of R&D workers through an overview of thetheoretical issues involved in a study of mobility and provides an overview of SouthAfrican policies and legislation concerning mobility It concludes with an introduction tothe various methodologies used in the project

Chapter 3 uses various data sources and surveys to quantify the mobility of South Africa’sR&D workers and human resources in S&T It attempts to map the flows in the systemand integrate international movements of the highly skilled workforce

Chapter 4 address mobility from the experiences of organisations It deals withorganisational issues and summarises issues arising from interviews with key peopleinvolved in priority fields of technology

Chapter 5 deals with mobility on the basis of the experiences of individuals and describesthe subtler and more personal issues involved in mobility as gleaned from a series ofinterviews.

Chapter 6 concludes the report, discusses policy implications and lists recommendationsarising from the project, arranging them in terms of short, medium and long-termframeworks

An Appendix is provided, containing more detailed information on various aspects of theproject

Chapter 2: A framework for understanding mobility among R&D workers

2.1 Introduction

A contextual and methodological overview of the project is presented in this chapter

After a brief overview of some primary issues surrounding mobility among South Africa’sR&D workers, three sections review specific aspects of the project The first provides abrief theoretical review and places the South African experience in a global context Thesecond is a critical review of relevant policies in South Africa Finally, the third presentsdetails of the methodologies used in the empirical components of the project

Mobility among South Africa’s R&D workers is not just about people crossing borders, butincludes internal mobility Looking at this project from a slightly different perspective, onecan say that we are analysing the role mobility plays in the national system of innovation

In the modern global economy, there is increased recognition that innovation does notfollow a linear path from the laboratory to the market place Innovation by firms andadvances in science both depend more and more on interactions between business,national research organisations and higher education institutions A basic way in whichthese interactions occur is through the mobility of individuals

Investment in human capital is as important as investment in capital goods In SouthAfrica, skills are a strong resource constraint and are crucial determinants of innovation,productivity and economic growth The mobility of human capital is an important pathfor technology transfers between sectors, between firms and internationally Historically,many of South Africa’s economic booms have been accompanied by inflows of foreigners

to develop and transfer foreign technologies

In a recent article, Harvard academic Jeffrey Sachs (2002) identifies the gap between S&T

in the North and South as being fundamental to the growing divide between the world’srich and poor The mobility of individuals is one of the dimensions in bridging that gapand facilitating economic development While innovation and knowledge transfers occurbetween individuals with diverse formal and informal qualifications, our project focuses

on formal R&D workers.1The importance of R&D worker mobility in other regions isreflected in a quotation from a recent European Union (EU) seminar on the subject:

It is essential, indeed, for Europe to be able to retain its own researchers andbecome an attractive pole for research talent from other parts of the world It isnecessary therefore to offer them good conditions that make it interesting for third-country researchers to come to Europe, starting from the conditions of entry(Liberalli 2002)

In addition, while some of the OECD states fear a brain drain, others fear theconsequences for their knowledge production capability of insufficient temporarymobility One does not want to lose one’s best, but the best must travel to stay at the top

of their fields Ideas and technology travel best when packed between two ears

2.2 Theoretical orientation

This section describes the broad theoretical orientation of the project, which wasdeveloped through a review of local and international literature on mobility Relationshipsbetween South African and international literature on mobility were investigated

throughout the review Three overarching themes emerged from this process, which arelabelled: globalisation, political and economic integration, and problematisation ofmobility.

Globalisation is a ubiquitous theme in the modern literature on mobility With free trade

in goods, then services, free trade in human resources would appear the next logicalstep.2However, the movement of people involves far more socio-economic interactionand disruption than the movement of goods or services Following relatively closedeconomic policies between the World Wars; international markets became increasinglyglobal after the Second World War Today, therefore, most nations have 50 years of globaltransformation behind them During the 40 years between the end of the Second WorldWar and the early 1990s, enforced isolation severely limited South African participation inthe global economy Thus, South Africa in just 10 years, has faced the reality of highlyaccelerated globalisation, while simultaneously trying to correct its legacy of domesticinequity South African R&D capacity has had to be re-aligned within a global productionstructure and international competitiveness The mobility of the South African R&Dworkforce has obviously been influenced by this transformation, which will continue to

be a major influence over the future employment structure of South Africa’s R&D system.There is another view, namely, that South Africa’s relative isolation is relevant if thecountry is compared with Europe, but not when compared with many countries in LatinAmerica and the developing world in general, which generally followed import

substitution macro-economic policies until the early 1990s South Africa is not thatexceptional in this sense, but what is different is the socio-political context and theenforced nature of its isolation, as well as its status of having been a pariah in the world,barred from participation in most world bodies

One of the lubricators of the rapid pace of globalisation is undoubtedly the 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 theability to organise, control and monitor the production process This is one aspect of theknowledge economy Another is the mobility of mind power, with research beingconducted where the people are, rather than the people necessarily having to relocate tothe multinational headquarters This new breed of knowledge workers might be termed

‘commies’, characterised by their cell phone, omnipresence and mobility

Another pervasive theme around mobility has been political and economic integration.From Asia to Europe and the Americas, there have been a wide variety of political andeconomic integration initiatives This diversity of nations is crucial to informing the SouthAfrican experience, while NEPAD is providing a platform to advance African political andeconomic integration under the African Union (AU) South Africa’s relatively advancedeconomic development gives it a unique position on the continent to advance its ownand the continent’s R&D capacity through co-ordinated management of highly skilledAfricans across the AU To these ends, the experience of the EU, with its heterogeneousnations and mobility of citizenry, can be highly informative

The mobility of South Africa’s R&D workers plays several roles in the context of increasedpolitical and economic integration:

Framework for understanding mobility of R&D workers

• The mobility of researchers allows them to develop their individual potentials asresearchers This occurs through a variety of mechanisms, but the provision of aglobal reference and networking of researchers with similar interests is crucial

• With increased integration, mobility also serves to develop a research scale that iscrucial to attracting others and building a virtuous circle of research development

• The integration and mobility of R&D workers fosters an understanding of keyregional problems and establishes research networks that facilitate a more African-focused research agenda

In both the South African and international literature, one is challenged by the complexity

of mobility, which is made even more so in a study such as this, which inter-relates withour understanding of the national (and international) system of innovation Data andanalyses that presumably investigate the same phenomenon can become incomparablebecause of nuances in definition The literature therefore highlights the importance ofclearly defining the object of one’s analysis It is an area of research in which no singlemodel clearly captures all of the major dimensions Asking the right questions depends

on the context and focus of analysis This project has therefore tried to be as explicit aspossible in defining the object of its analysis and placing that analysis in relation to thelocal and international literature on mobility

It should be noted that since South Africa became a democracy in 1994, Cabinet,ministries, parliament, government departments and stakeholders have been highly active

in formulating and contributing to new and amended legislation and policy documents

For example, in 1998 and 1999, a total of 196 Acts were passed by Parliament More than

63 draft Bills and 226 Bills were also introduced in this period, as were six Green Papersand 21 White Papers Between 2000 and 2002, the rate of new legislation and policyintroduction slowed somewhat to 156 Acts, 215 Bills, 90 draft Bills, two Green Papers andnine White Papers With the production of legislation and policy documents at its currentrate (the period 1994-1997 was even busier), the environment for implementing policyhas been a complicated one, and much of the legislation and policy has still to be put inplace in the spirit in which it was formulated The integration of the numerous policiesand policy instruments into coherent national strategies for equity, development andgrowth in a complex national and international environment presents government withdifficult challenges

2.3.1 The development of high level human resources (Stocks)

In view of the country’s past racial divisiveness, policy makers are well aware that theequitable development of a skilled workforce at all levels is one of the most pressing

problems facing South Africa Policies and interventions have been developed to tacklethese 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 moreequitable education system with access for all and the provision of appropriate educationand improved skills for learners and school leavers Critical problems persist in theschooling system, including a lack of adequately trained and motivated teachers, poorinfrastructure in many areas, and the impoverished communities and backgrounds fromwhich the majority of pupils come The issue of access to schooling has been addressed

through the South African Schools Act (Act no 84 of 1996), while problems relating to infrastructure are tackled through the Register of School Needs and differentiated school

appropriations The slow process of curriculum reform is under way, and CurriculumStatements that comply with the policy of outcome-based education (OBE) have beenpublished both for the Compulsory Phase (Grades 1-9) and the Further Education andTraining (FET) Phase (Grades 10-12) Mathematics, science and technology are part of themandatory curriculum for the Compulsory Phase While in the FET Phase, all learners arerequired to take either mathematical literacy or mathematics itself as compulsory subjects

The system appears to be improving, as measured by the Senior Certificate pass rate.Government and numerous stakeholders have been involved in various interventions atnational and provincial level, such as the national learner performance improvementstrategy There have been significant improvements in the Senior Certificate pass ratesfrom 2000 to 2001, and again from 2001 to 2002 (a 68.9 per cent overall pass rate wasachieved in 2002) However, the two gateway subjects of mathematics and physicalscience remain bottlenecks for future higher education careers Indeed, the number ofAfrican students attaining higher grade passes remains around 3 000 for mathematics and

5 000 for physical science (Kahn 2001) The National Strategy for Science, Mathematicsand Technology Education (DoE, 2001a) seeks to address these shortcomings by targetingresources both at teacher education and at 102 so-called ‘focus schools’ There are nowsigns that the Strategy, with its high-profile advocacy campaign, is yielding dividends.There still appears to be insufficient opportunity for quality teaching of subjects taken onthe standard grade, which limits higher education choices and opportunities for mostschool leavers

In 2002, of the 440 000 learners that wrote the matriculation examination, only 35 000(8.0 per cent) wrote mathematics on the higher grade and only 20 000 (4.5 per cent ofcandidates) passed higher grade mathematics While policies will be needed to addressthis serious supply problem, much action and commitment at community level will bekey to improving the quality of primary and secondary education Government, highereducation institutions, business and other stakeholders are keenly aware that unless thiscritical bottleneck is addressed, the medium and long-term future and sustainability of theSouth African workforce, in comparison to other emerging economies, is in jeopardy

The broader initiative of technology-enhanced learning is being addressed through theICT in Education Strategy (DoE 2001b), which seeks to provide a framework to co-ordinate the efforts of provincial department to deploy ICT in schools

Framework for understanding mobility of R&D workers

Upgrading worker skills

The National Qualifications Framework (NQF) is a plan for education and training Itconsists of strategies to develop an accessible, integrated approach to education andtraining, relevant to South Africa at this time There are guidelines on how the differenteducation and training standards and/or qualifications must be set and an explanation ofhow courses will be accredited The aim is for everyone to be able to learn throughouttheir lives, and accumulate qualification credits as they learn and work, including gettingcredits for work experience

Workforce skills development previously relied on the apprenticeship model, whichgradually collapsed in the 1980s, and which in any case had tended to concentrate onwhite workers In order to address the training vacuum, and to meet trade union

demands for competency-based training, a new approach was needed The Skills Development Act(Act no 97 of 1998) provides an institutional framework to devise andimplement national, sector and workplace strategies for developing and improving theskills of the South African workforce and integrating these strategies within the National

Qualifications Framework as contemplated in the South African Qualifications Authority Act (Act no 58 of 1995) The aim of the Skills Development Act is to make provision for

learnerships that lead to recognised occupational qualifications and to provide for thefinancing of skills development by means of a levy-grant scheme and a National SkillsFund (NSF) The NQF is, of course, much wider than the training dimension and includesboth schooling and higher education

Along with the Skills Development Levies Act (Act no 9 of 1999), the objectives of these

Acts are to raise the investment of employers in workforce education and training,promote education and training in the workplace and introduce occupation-basedlearning for students and the unemployed

The Acts came into effect on 1 April 2000, and qualifying employers are currentlyrequired to pay a levy, and to budget for the education and training of their staff, at thelevel of one per cent of their total remuneration

A National Skills Authority (NSA) has been established to advise the Minister on:

• A national skills development policy

• A national skills development strategy

• Guidelines on implementation of the strategy

• Allocation of funds

• Regulations

The Skills Development Act defines the following structures for implementing the NQF:

South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA)This is the body responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of theNational Qualifications Framework (NQF) SAQA members are drawn from amongstakeholders, and it is accountable to the departments of Labour and Education SAQAestablishes National Standards Bodies, Standards Generating Bodies, and Education andTraining Quality Assurers

National Standards Bodies (NSB)These bodies set standards on what needs to be learnt in any particular field of learning.SAQA has established 12 fields of learning, such as agriculture, communication andmanufacturing Each NSB organises its field of learning into sub-fields, approves standardsand qualifications generated by Standards Generating Bodies, and sends them to SAQAfor registration.

Standards Generating Bodies (SGBs)

An SGB develops standards and qualifications in a particular sub-field of learning Thestandards are written in the form of unit standards, which describe what learners should

be able to do at the end of a ‘chunk’ of learning and stipulate how many credits will beawarded for attaining that unit standard

Education and Training Quality AssurersApart from developing learning standards and qualifications, SAQA is responsible forensuring that the quality of education and training provided is of a sufficiently highstandard, and that learners are properly assessed to an agreed standard This is done viabodies of Education and Training Quality Assurers Anyone wanting to provide educationand training has first to be approved by an Education and Training Quality Assurer, whichwill issue qualification certificates to learners

Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs)Each separate economic sector has one SETA There are 27 SETAs, which cover all worksectors in South Africa, including the government sector SETA members include tradeunions, government and bargaining councils from appropriate industries The SouthAfrican Revenue Service has details of the SETAs established Employers must choosewhich SETA their business falls under

SETAs replace and extend the work of the old industry training boards Within its ownsector, a SETA must develop and implement a skills development plan (includingworkplace skills development plans), act as the Education and Training Quality Assurer,and pay out Skills Development Grants

About 80 per cent of the funds raised by the Skills Development Levy are allocated to theSETAs, which use the funds for training and education activities within their sector andaccording to plans The remaining 20 per cent, as well as funds from any sector that maynot have a representative SETA, are paid to the National Skills Fund (NSF) The SETAsfocus mostly on developing the skills and abilities of low-skilled and medium-skilledworkers and are not specifically directed at developing the high level skills needed forresearch While there are concerns that the SETA system has created a whole new sector

of employment in itself, with attendant bureaucratic problems, the longer term view isthat the emphasis on skilling the workforce will provide an upward movement of skillsthat 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 mostimportant institutions in the system with respect to maintaining and replenishing the S&T

Framework for understanding mobility of R&D workers

and R&D workforce The Education White Paper 3, A Programme for the Transformation

of Higher Education(DoE 1997) was generally welcomed by the research community,particularly because of its emphasis on the importance of research It outlined acomprehensive set of initiatives for the transformation of higher education, through thedevelopment of a single co-ordinated system with new planning, governing and fundingarrangements

The Education White Paper 3 underlined the importance of the higher education sector in

supporting the development needs of society Its role in a knowledge-driven andknowledge-dependent society is to provide the labour market with the ever-changinghigh level competencies and expertise necessary for the growth and prosperity of amodern economy, as well as the creation, sharing and evaluation of knowledge It alsonoted the gross discrepancies in the participation rates of women and students fromdifferent population groups and, importantly, the chronic mismatch between the output ofhigher education and the needs of a modernising economy In this respect, the WhitePaper noted that national growth and competitiveness are dependent on continuoustechnological improvement and innovation, driven by a well-organised, vibrant R&Dsystem that integrates the research and training capacity of higher education with theneeds of industry and social reconstruction (Clause 1.12)

One of the goals of higher education stipulated in the White Paper reads:

At the national or system level, to secure and advance high level research capacitywhich can ensure both the continuation of self-initiated, open-ended intellectualinquiry, and the sustained application of research activities to technologicalimprovement and social development (Clause 1.27)

The White Paper expresses some concern about the current capacity, distribution andoutcomes of research in the higher education system, in particular:

• There is insufficient articulation between the different elements of the researchsystem, and between the research system and national needs for social, economic,cultural and intellectual reconstruction

• There are stark race and gender imbalances in the demographic composition ofresearchers in higher education, research councils and private sector researchestablishments (Clause 2.83)

The research system in South Africa faces two main challenges: to redress pastinequalities and strengthen and diversify research capacity, and to keep abreast ofemerging global trends, especially the development of participatory and applications-driven research addressing critical national needs Addressing these challenges requirescollaboration between knowledge producers, knowledge interpreters and knowledgemanagers and implementers (Clause 2.86)

The White Paper also recommends that, in view of the national strategic importance ofresearch, and in order to ensure that the relatively scarce funds available for thedevelopment of research capability are well targeted, public funds for participation inresearch, whether basic or applied, should not be spread across all faculties or schools inall institutions, but should rather be concentrated in those areas where there is

demonstrable research capacity or potential, in both historically disadvantaged institutions(HDIs) and historically white institutions (HWIs) To give practical effect to this view, theMinistry of Education will provide earmarked funds to:

• Preserve and strengthen existing areas of research excellence

• Develop new areas and centres of research excellence

• Develop research links with industry and facilitate industry-related collaborativeresearch

• Facilitate inter-institutional research collaboration

• Facilitate collaborative research and technology development with science,

engineering and technology institutions, as defined in the White Paper on Science and Technology

The White Paper stresses other key aims concerning the higher education sector, inparticular to:

• Correct the discrepancies of the past

• Develop new policies and mechanisms for funding higher education institutions

• Develop a national research plan

The National Plan for Higher Education was published in February 2001 It provided theframework and mechanisms for the restructuring of the higher education system toachieve the vision and goals for the transformation of the system as outlined in the

Education White Paper 3.The National Plan established targets for the size and shape ofthe higher education system, including overall growth and participation rates, institutionaland programme mixes, and equity and efficiency goals

The most controversial aspect of the National Plan was the introduction of specificproposals for merging certain institutions This gave rise to a lengthy and heated processwhich, by December 2002, led to a plan to reduce the country’s higher educationinstitutions from the current 36 to 23 (11 universities, six technikons and six new hybridinstitutions) in order to ‘foster the growth and 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 amerger unit is to be established within the Department of Education to assist theinstitutions with the changes that will take place during the period up to 2005

The outcome of these mergers and the impact on research intensity, skills developmentand the production of new researchers will need to be carefully assessed over the comingyears The pessimistic attitudes of a large number of academics concerning the mergersmay well be self-fulfilling and hinder the process Mergers are rarely easy processes, andthere are bound to be perceptions of ‘losers’ and ‘winners’ in the outcomes obtained Themergers will therefore need to be carefully managed if the morale of researchers is to bemaintained The signals that the mergers send to potential young researchers will also beimportant If the processes appear to create new opportunities for young researchers toenter the academic system, without the loss of key experienced researchers from thesystem, this will have a positive effect

The targets set in the National Plan concerning the supply side for the S&T and R&Dworkforce have important implications for the flows of students through the sector The

Framework for understanding mobility of R&D workers

National Plan proposes that the participation rates in higher education must be shiftedfrom 15 to 20 per cent in the long term (ten to fifteen years), in order to address theimperative for equity and the changing human resource and labour needs Institutions arealso expected to establish equity targets, with the emphasis on the programmes in whichblack and women students are under-represented (such as commerce, science,

engineering and technology and postgraduate programmes in general) They are alsoexpected to develop strategies to ensure the equity of outcomes The National Planproposes to shift the balance in enrolments over the next five to ten years between thehumanities, business and commerce and science, engineering and technology from thecurrent respective ratio of 49: 26: 25 per cent to 40: 30: 30 per cent The National Plannotes that further changes to the proposed ratios are not possible in the short to mediumterm because of the low number of students leaving the school system with the requisiteproficiency in mathematics The importance of maintaining a balance of humanitiesgraduates for key professions is also emphasised

The National Plan proposes increasing the total number of graduates by a minimum of

10 000 per year over the next five years This can be interpreted to mean that totalgraduates (including those obtaining diplomas) from universities and technikons shouldincrease from an annual level of some 88 249 in 2000 to about 138 249 by 2006

What has not yet been addressed is the broader area of student funding While it is truethat the general public is quite unaware of the full cost of a student place, students’ feeseven at current levels place a severe restriction on access, the National Student FinancialAid Scheme notwithstanding The problem is even more critical for mature students withfamily commitments and for part-time postgraduates If government is serious aboutincreasing the number of postgraduates and broadening access to higher education, amore generous grant scheme is a necessity Larger loans that carry much lower rates ofinterest are a possible mechanism

The National Plan also proposes that research will be funded through a separate formulabased on research outputs, including, at a minimum, master’s and doctoral graduates andresearch publications In a subsequent Ministry of Education discussion document,

Funding of Public Higher Education: A New Framework, it is proposed that theinstitutional rewards for master’s and doctoral graduates be set at a level of R40 000 andR160 000 respectively (by comparison, a publication output unit would receive R30 000)

The Department is aware that higher education financial incentives are open to possiblemanipulation by institutions, and there will be a need to monitor the quality andappropriateness of master’s and doctoral programmes, particularly with respect to theirresearch content

Since 1996, the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has allocated some R2.9billion to academically able students that do not have the financial resources to pursuehigher education studies In 2000, a total of 81 609 students were funded through theNSFAS

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 isapparently to allow the limited funds to be spread over a wider net of students

The Ministry is reviewing the suitability and likely impact of the NSFAS, particularlyregarding priority fields of study and academic programmes where black students areunder-represented The NSFAS is largely aimed at supporting first degrees

Funds for postgraduate research students is provided by the National ResearchFoundation (NRF), which supports about 4 500 students per year (out of a total of some

31 000 master’s and doctoral students at universities and technikons), but its grants makeprovision only for fees and limited additional expenses, so that students usually have tosupplement their income Strict rules regarding employment add to the student burden

There is also very little NRF support available for part-time postgraduate students(particularly in the social sciences and humanities, where part-time enrolments arecommon)

Honours students are especially poorly catered for in South Africa’s funding system.Honours students are unlikely to qualify for NSFAS support, while the NRF concentrates

on master’s and doctoral students

Considering that about 30 000 honours students enrol at universities each year, this is aserious gap in the system The honours year is the crucial stepping stone from

undergraduate training to a career in research, and this gap therefore needs to bebridged

There is also little support for mature students re-entering the system This latter fundinggap is serious, given the policy intent in the National Plan for Higher education toincrease participation rates, especially for mature students

2.3.2 Flows within the national S&T and R&D workforce

National system of innovation

The concept of a national system of innovation (NSI) was the central tenet of the 1996

White Paper on Science and Technology: Preparing for the 21st Century The NSI wasenvisaged according to the following descriptions in that White Paper:

South Africa’s national system of innovation consists of all individuals andorganisations involved in creating and using a knowledge base in order to build abetter South Africa

A prime objective of the NSI is to enhance the rate and quality of technologytransfer and diffusion from the science, engineering and technology (SET) sector bythe provision of quality human resources, effective hard technology transfermechanisms and the creation of more effective and efficient users of technology inthe business and governmental sectors

Understanding the process of research and innovation through the NSI model has a longhistory and can be traced back to the pioneering work of Nelson, Freeman and others(see Nelson, 1993 and Freeman, 1995 for reviews) The elements of an NSI have longexisted in the country, embedded in its firms, higher education institutions, science

Framework for understanding mobility of R&D workers

councils, government departments, infrastructure and its policy, cultural, legal andregulatory environment What has been lacking is some kind of steering mechanism

Arguably, totale aanslag provided that steering mechanism in the apartheid years The

attainment of democracy clearly required a new pilot (Kahn 2002)

National Research and Development Strategy South Africa’s National Research and Development Strategy of August 2002 (Government

of South Africa 2002) is a more directed strategy aimed at enhancing R&D and boostingthe NSI

The strategy deals with many concerns regarding the NSI, and in the chapter on HumanCapital and Transformation in Science, Engineering and Technology, it deals with globaltrends in the migration of scientists

The end of the Cold War, along with globalisation and new value chain approaches, hasled to a tremendous dispersal of R&D effort out of the previously centralised researchlaboratories (Branscomb & Keller 1996) Multinationals of the US, Japan and Germany, forexample, have established laboratories on foreign soil A second phenomenon in the UShas been a large increase in university-based research, which has in turn created hugeskills demands

Section 6.1 of the strategy states:

Science today is a highly globalised activity Even in advanced economies (such asGermany and Canada), policy analysts express concern that the best scientists arebeing drawn towards the highly dynamic United States system To counteract thistrend the affected countries are attempting a range of interventions, for example,Canada has set aside funds for the creation of two thousand university chairs inscience and engineering over the next five years Both France and Germany are inthe process of radically overhauling their legislation and practices to promotescience-industry linkages in line with the United States’ highly successful Bayh-DoleAct In South Africa, recent studies show attrition rates for researchers of

approximately 11 per cent per annum from universities Of those who leaveemployment, some five per cent of the government laboratory scientists and about

22 per cent of the academics emigrate

The recent offshore listings of several large technology-intensive South Africancompanies pose awkward questions regarding the retention of the strategic skills inour country Allegedly there is a tendency for these companies to source researchoutside South Africa Clearly, they do this for economic reasons, but South Africaneeds to develop an effective response to what, in many cases, may be the loss ofstrategic control over companies originally built on South African knowledge capital

The end game here revolves around being relegated to a sales outlet incontradistinction to developing as centre of innovation

At the same time it must be recognised that other ‘national’ systems of innovation haveacquired a more global dimension as the centralised research laboratories near to thehome of the multinational have been and subsidiary research laboratories established on