Human Resource in Science and Engineering The Indian Case

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Human Resource in Science and EngineeringThe
Indian Case

• Professor Sunil Mani
• Centre for Development Studies
• Trivandrum
• Kerala, India
• Mani_at_cds.ac,in
• February 14 2006

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Outline

• The Facts
• The Problem
• The Hypotheses
• Some illustrations from the Indian case
• Towards a research proposal

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The Facts

• India's total pool of technical man power is one
  of the largest in the world
• The growth rate of India's IT software industry
  has been tremendous in the recent past
• Its is a growing destination for cutting edge RD
  outsourcing in certain high tech areas such as
  bio pharmaceuticals and telecommunications and
• The demand in the West for students from India's
  top science and technology educational
  institutions has been very strong.

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Global distribution of workforce with tertiary
education, 1998
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The Problem

• Nevertheless India has a very low stock of
  scientists and engineers engaged in RD
• The density of scientists and engineers engaged
  in RD too is one of the lowest among the BRICS
• Why is this so?

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Density of scientists and engineers in RD in
India (Scientists and engineers in Research and
Development per 10, 000 of the labour force)
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Trends in RD personnel and density of Research
Scientists and Engineers, 1980- 1998
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Stock of ST personnel in India(in thousands
at the beginning of each year)
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Hypotheses

• The demand for scientists and engineers is very
  low as most Indian industries does not invest in
  innovation. This is is indicated by the low RD
  intensities. Even the increased patenting is
  restricted to a few enterprises in the
  pharmaceutical sector and as such patenting is
  not widespread. The demand for innovation is low
  because more Indian industries are highly
  concentrated
• The demand for research as a career option even
  among students with science and engineering
  degrees is very low. This is directly linked to
  compensation and working conditions of scientists
  and engineers even in private sector enterprises.
  The financial compensation is low and upward
  mobility is limited compared to other functional
  areas within the company. As a corollary brain
  drain is the highest among this category.
• There are supply side problems as well caused by
  mismatch between what is supplied by the higher
  education sector and what is demanded by the
  industry. This is perhaps due to the quality of
  tertiary education in science and engineering.
  

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Gross enrolment in higher education
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Science as a career is not a preferred option for
Indian School Children
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Estimated Human Resource in Science and Technology
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Foreign SE Doctorate recipients with plans to
stay in the US, 1990-2001
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Attractiveness of other professions and
especially IT
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Towards a BRICS project

• All the BRICS appears to have the same problem of
  low density of scientists and engineers, although
  it may vary in degree across the five countries
• One could use a mix of primary and secondary
  source material
• Primary source material is required for
  understanding the demand side of the issue
  especially the working conditions for scientists
  and engineers. Occupational wage surveys, if
  available, are useful in this direction
• Secondary source material is the one that is
  relevant for understanding the supply side of the
  issue.