Growing a research workforce

A new consultation paper examines the challenges of building and sustaining a high-quality research workforce as the nation strives to keep pace with skyrocketing global demand for researchers.

The federal government may finally expand its postgraduate scholarships program as part of wider efforts to attract and retain researchers here.

The recommendation was put forth this week in a Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR) consultation paper, expected to inform the government’s long-awaited research workforce strategy, due later this year.

If the idea is adopted, Australian Postgraduate Awards (APAs) will be extended from three to four years as early as 2011. They also could be offered to International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (IPRS) recipients.

The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA) welcomed the suggestion, one of several short-term priorities outlined in the consultation paper, ‘Meeting Australia’s research workforce needs’.

“The thing that makes me hopeful about it is that the government did finally increase the APA rate last year by 10 per cent for the first time in [about] 15 years, and they increased the number of APAs,” said CAPA president Tammi Jonas.

“So they’ve seen that we need to create more incentives for students to undertake and remain in higher degrees. This recommendation’s been around for so long, I think they’ll follow through on it.”

The consultation paper examines challenges and opportunities as the nation strives to keep pace with a skyrocketing global demand for researchers – a demand that is outstripping the need for workers with other skills and education.

It notes strong research and development growth in OECD countries is the driving force behind the worldwide trend. It also addresses multiple complex and at times uniquely Australian barriers that must be lowered or removed to remain competitive and prosperous.

Among them: rising attrition rates in university doctorate programs; a drop in PhD commencements; an unattractive perception of academic careers; and uncertain private sector job prospects.

“Australia has the opportunity to better harness and use the potential within its research workforce by developing and implementing a coherent, forward-looking and evidence-based research workforce strategy,” the paper states.

“At the highest level, this is about drawing on research skills to meet the productivity challenge of a future characterised by an ageing workforce and an increasing need to seek innovative and sustainable solutions in areas such as environmental management, climate change mitigation, social inclusion and health.”

The paper builds on earlier investigations, most notably ‘Building Australia’s research capacity’, a report by the House of Representatives Industry, Science and Innovation Committee in 2008.

The government knocked back many of that committee’s recommendations; the current paper attempts to readdress those that were accepted or flagged for further scrutiny by sketching actions for government, universities and employers over the decade to 2020.

In the short term, it calls for better support of international students, greater alignment between training and employer needs, and more flexible higher degree programs to accommodate part-time and older students.

It also suggests the Research Training Scheme (RTS) be reviewed soon so universities can provide deeper financial incentives. Extending APAs to four years would make the two programs line up, too, the paper acknowledges.

“It’s a really obvious and commonsense recommendation to have your stipend last as long as you can,” Jonas remarked. “We’ve had to do multiple studies to prove what everybody knows.”

Over the next four to six years, the paper recommends doubling IPRS openings, a deeper examination of migration policies, and the development of more robust systems for tracking researcher supply and demand in Australia.

Our doctoral pipeline should be close to the Bologna standards that are common throughout Europe by this time, too, the paper underscores.

Finally, in the 2017 to 2020 timeframe, Australia should be introducing joint, and even multi-partner, doctoral programs, plus enhancements to the schemes and systems introduced over the preceding years.

Other peak bodies said they were still absorbing the paper and declined to provide more than broad comment this week.

“The Go8 strongly supports the department’s efforts to develop a comprehensive strategy to provide for Australia’s current and future research workforce needs,” the organisation said in a statement. “The consultation paper raises a number of crucial issues which must be addressed if we are to compete in the global knowledge economy.”

Added Dr Glenn Withers, CEO of Universities Australia:

“The exercise has provided some productive ideas. The issue of research workforce involves DIISR but also requires input from DIAC [Department of Immigration and Citizenship].”

Other reactions indicated all the reports undertaken would be futile unless the government prioritised a research workforce with a strong funding commitment.

“There’s been some really good studies done to get more information and to have some good data to work with,” said Jonas.

“On the other hand, the universities always say, just give us more money. We need a more complicated answer than that … [but] actually, they do need to just give them more money. Sometimes it’s quite simple.”