Human capability issues in science and technology

See the current activities of the Human Resources Committee

13 September, 2002

The Honourable Pete Hodgson
Minister for Research, Science and Technology
Parliament Buildings
WELLINGTON

Dear Minister

At its meeting just before the election, the Council of the Royal Society resolved that Academy Council President Paul Callaghan and CEO, Steve Thompson should request a meeting with you as soon as possible after the election to make representations on long term funding, career path development and human capability issues.

Scientists work in the most uncertain of all human endeavours. This transcends risk into the dimensions of the pure discovery. We believe that New Zealand can do more to ensure continuing effective contributions from our scientists, who take the greatest risks of all.

We seem to accept the phrase "Human Capital" when talking of scientists. And in a world that is changing fast, it is commonplace to see physical capital treated as expendable. Buildings ten or twenty years old may be knocked down to make way for something new. Production lines are routinely scrapped for a faster, or totally different, approach. Human Capital can all too easily find itself a candidate for replacement too. But scientists get better, buildings do not. Scientists are creative, buildings are not. We know that scientists in New Zealand have the creativity to change with the world, and to cause part of that change.

The Government has set out four goals for RS&T which aim to develop "human capital", and to enhance our knowledge of the economic, environmental, social and health determinants of our well-being. A knowledge society is built on talented people and a willingness to provide the long term support necessary to establish careers and infrastructure needs. In order to acquire and then harness that capital, our strategy must encompass the time-scales associated with higher education and professional employment. We must send appropriate signals to young people about their career choices and to the institutes regarding their management policies. We believe there are four "behavioural" goals for research:

Excellent and Effective Research for New Zealand's Benefit - encouraging focus and producing excellent research outputs for New Zealand, and particularly intellectual property capable of generating significant export earnings.
Excellent and Effective Researchers - developing, and retaining excellent researchers / innovation workers for the national needs, and using them effectively across the full spectrum of activity from basic to applied research, from wealth generation to policy application.
Effective Critical Masses and Concentrations of Researchers - developing and maintaining an excellent research capability / infrastructure based upon networks, collaboration and co-operation across the public and private sectors.
Effective Use of Research to underpin Public Policy and Private Sector Innovation - developing a cadre of New Zealanders who are S&T-literate, and are intelligently able to commission needed research, interpret its results, and embody their findings in public policy and the private sector.

The Council's resolution stemmed from a deep concern that Council members have to ensure that scientists and technologists are able to make the best contribution possible to New Zealand's future. We provide the talking points attached in advance of our meeting with you, scheduled for 18 September.

Yours sincerely

Steve Thompson
Chief Executive
For the Council of the Royal Society of New Zealand

Human Capability Issues in Science and Technology

Talented People

Nurturing and challenging talented people are essential to achievement of a knowledge society. The broad parameters to be addressed in any strategy to develop the best scientific talent include:

Education and training - not just in terms of volume but also matching supply with demand for a skilled workforce of scientists, technologists, technicians and support staffs.
Attracting sufficient students and apprentices into developing areas of science and technology.
Recruiting a skilled workforce from those recently trained in New Zealand and by migration.
Retaining a skilled workforce both New Zealand-trained and immigrant.
Negative factors affecting training, recruitment, retention and attraction back to New Zealand including:
- Short duration of contracts for people starting careers in relation to the normally long duration before research outputs are achieved;
- Personal debt resulting from the student loan scheme;
- The lack of early career support systems;
- Low pay.

An urgent challenge is to re-stabilise the RS&T work force by favouring longer, rather than shorter, research contracts. The loss of a research grant can lead suddenly to the loss of valued researchers. While some solutions will bear fruit over the longer term, several human resource issues can be addressed immediately:

Science demands a high personal investment

The educational (and intellectual) requirements for a career in science are the most exhaustive and time consuming of almost any profession. Typically, a four-year honours degree qualifies the student as a technician, for a technical/managerial role in industry or for entry into a teacher training course, all of which provide satisfying and challenging careers. However, if a career in scientific research is sought then a doctorate requires further years of study, frequently followed by more years as a post-doctoral fellow. Borrowing to finance this training is typically followed by a salary that makes debt repayment difficult at a time of life when family and home purchases are a priority. We believe that the student loan scheme must be rethought, and a review made of some of the instruments intended to capture young scientists (eg Bright Future). The Society advocates further review of:

rates of interest;
mode of repayment (through the tax system);
earning level at which repayment starts;
effects arising from the differential costs associated with various courses;
a system which favours those studying shorter courses which take them into service industries and disadvantages those doing masters or PhD courses that are necessary precursors in the training of scientists.

Invest in the best

To encourage students to attain the basics necessary for science and technology careers, postgraduate scholarships should be increased to match typical graduate salaries in the workforce. As a trade-off scholarships could be limited to three years duration, as in the United Kingdom, to focus both the mind of the student and the supervisor.

However, the Royal Society would argue that a special career start position should be made available to the very best. In other words, the fact that someone has a PhD doesn't make them automatically eligible for further career options, just because they are scientists. It seems to have become increasingly possible for mediocrity to gain a PhD in today's world!

The evidence is (and the FRST post-doctoral competition demonstrates this) that there are some exceptionally able PhD graduates available to the country. For these very top people (perhaps no more than 6 per year) New Zealand should offer a 5-year PDF at a higher salary rate. This would be in addition to current FRST PDFs and would enable 6 more elite-grade post-doctoral fellowships to be awarded each year. They should be strictly for New Zealand tenure and restricted to New Zealand citizens or residents. They could be available to people who have already had a 2- to 3-year Fellowship. Some form of bonding may be needed, and taxation issues surrounding grants would need to be addressed. A key factor in the award would be the commitment of a level of host institution support.

The absence of such a "funding instrument" is, in the view of many, the biggest gap in the human capital development aspect of Vote RS&T.

Science pay is low

Science and technology remuneration is less than in most other professions such as law, medicine and dentistry. It offers insufficient compensation for the years invested in training, and the degree of responsibility carried. The differential was compensated in the past by:

Opportunities to pursue areas of personal research interest;
Reasonable job stability;
A degree of respect for scholarship.

Today those factors no longer compensate. Job stability appears tenuous and intellectual freedom is constrained or dictated by funding bodies, while the personal investment costs of an education has risen and the low salaries persist. The result is that science as a career has become a joke among young people.

The job carries high responsibility

Scientists and technologists welcome the opportunity to become more accountable for their actions. However, that accountability reflects a higher level of responsibility to society - a responsibility which is not reflected in status or remuneration. Ultimately, if this situation is to be changed, society will have to increase either the financial or non-financial inducements to a point where society's best and brightest will want to enter a career in science.

Higher pay is a start

New Zealand faces an increasingly competitive internal market for S&T human resources. This is due to ageing populations in countries richer than ours. New Zealand needs to have a clear plan as to how to deal with this in the long term. One solution is to pay more and, as the major employer, the government is in a position to set the standards through its shareholder status in Crown Research Institutes.

But the key lies in maximising scientists' talents

While pay is a sine qua non, the key lies in maximising scientists' and technologists' incentives, talents, challenges and rewards, both financial and non-financial. These might include a degree of career stability where some degree of control was retained by the individual and the employing organization, rather than control resting with faceless committees and a funding organisation that appears to bear no responsibility for retention of human capacity or capability.

Priorities shift in strange ways

Adjustments in relative priorities have not been properly debated in recent times. In the case, for example, of environmental science, this change seems to be based on no more than followership of other OECD countries, without reference to what New Zealand might need. On the other hand, freezing funding to environmental research programmes, including rolling over funding well past original long-term funding allocations - some programmes have dollar amounts that have not changed since 1995-96!

Investment is a long term proposition

Currently, FRST investments average 4.5 years duration, yet in many cases research grants could profitably extend over five or more years with continuation expected on the basis of good performance and ongoing capability requirement. The Society recommends a shift from short-term contracts (1-3 years) for beginning scientists (eg after a post-doctorate) to a longer tenure (say 5-10 years as is the custom overseas). This time horizon has been recognized by the government in setting up Centres of Research Excellence, and the Society believes there is sound logic in the opportunities and returns arising from longer term work being more widely recognised. Mechanisms should be put in place to ensure that output and creative pressures exist on providers and monopoly-provider situations do not occur. We do not want New Zealand science and technology to become an intellectual monoculture.

Investment should allow for changing economic conditions

FRST investments should also allow for inflation and salary expectations. One option that could be considered is full-cost funding from dual sources, with research grants covering non-salary operating costs, while host institutions would be funded to cover overheads and salaries.

Transition arrangements are essential

Paradoxically long-term investment can be counter-productive if it is not accompanied by effective transition arrangements when a programme of work does come to an end. Where research funding changes are desirable then transition funds and opportunities for retraining, redundancy or early retirement should be factored into the change. Where research leads to spin-off opportunities, CRIs need to extend "prodigal son" clauses to scientists to return if the business does not work out.

In this case one might expect that when a funding body had to account for the full costs of reallocating funding, then a more responsible and thoughtful approach to funding research would be taken. A true strategic partnership between funder and fundee might develop where both parties would be accountable for their actions in terms of maximising benefit jointly to New Zealand, the research providers and individual scientists without allowing any of the parties to take advantage of the particular position they occupy. In other areas of government policy it is common to require that account be taken of "externalities", for example in costs and harm to the environment. The same notion has not, it appears, been applied to "human capital".

Recognise broader talents

Which brings us back to the issue of responsibility and status in society. One of the prime aims of the Royal Society is to recognise, celebrate, and harness to good use, excellence in science and technology, but we are discouraged by a corresponding lack of enthusiasm by government and industry. There are few scientists among the 600 or so directors that the government appoints to the Boards of the agencies, SOEs, CRIs, etc. that it is responsible for. Perhaps this more than anything indicates the way in which government regards scientists.

Provide a sound evidence base

New Zealand has adopted the concept of a knowledge society. But we need to ask ourselves what knowledge is needed and who can provide this knowledge? How do we match supply with demand? Information flow is very important here. Answering these questions requires a clear picture of:

the current supply of science and technology workers
the forecast demand for science and technology workers
the skill sets and flexibilities required
the current and required morale, quality, and excellence of our science and technology resource.

And of course, the S&T labour market is global, and perhaps the most mobile and fluid of any. So any serious New Zealand study must maintain surveillance of international stocks.

The Royal Society has put proposals to government departments (and is currently awaiting a response) to undertake a major ongoing project in assessing the current state of, and future needs for, science and technology (S&T) people in New Zealand. As it is built progressively over the years, this information will provide the basis for policy recommendations to government, the tertiary sector, research providers and industry, allowing them to assess where supply and demand will be sufficient or insufficient - in time to take remedial action. As the picture is completed and regularly updated, the Royal Society and others will develop instruments to ensure the continuing efficient operation of the "market" to match S&T supply with forecast S&T demand.

In conclusion, the Society acknowledges the government's right to shift priorities, as long as this is done in an orderly and transparent fashion in order for there to be a market in science skills that is based on freely available information. If government's science and technology aims are not carried out in a planned and logical manner, a further reduction in the morale of a growing number of scientists will occur. Their continued lack of faith in science as a career and feeling that society does not value them will, unfortunately, continue to rub off on young people.

The Society believes that much more can be done to invest in outstanding talent, to support early careers with more stable job contracts, and with pay scales that do not rely upon New Zealand being a "cheap source of labour". We need a "New Directions" process and adjustment period when strategic funding changes direction. CRI and university spin-off companies need prodigal-son clauses. But above all, we need policies to develop a society and industry culture with an insatiable thirst for innovation, a culture that values creativity more than cheap labour.