Human Resource in Science and Engineering The Indian Case Professor Sunil Mani Centre for Development Studies Trivandrum Kerala, India February

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 2 Outline The Facts The Problem The Hypotheses Some illustrations from the Indian case Towards a research proposal

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 3 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 R&D 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.

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 4 Global distribution of workforce with tertiary education, 1998

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 5 The Problem Nevertheless India has a very low stock of scientists and engineers engaged in R&D The density of scientists and engineers engaged in R&D too is one of the lowest among the BRICS Why is this so?

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 6 Density of scientists and engineers in R&D in India (Scientists and engineers in Research and Development per 10, 000 of the labour force)

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 7 Trends in R&D personnel and density of Research Scientists and Engineers,

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 8 Stock of S&T personnel in India (in thousands at the beginning of each year)

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 9 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 R&D 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.

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 10 Gross enrolment in higher education

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 11 Science as a career is not a preferred option for Indian School Children

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 12 Estimated Human Resource in Science and Technology

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 13

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 14

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 15 Foreign S&E Doctorate recipients with plans to stay in the US,

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 16 Attractiveness of other professions and especially IT

Sunil Mani, BRICS, Aalborg 17 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.