South Africa's first tracer study of doctoral graduates published

The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, launched A National Tracer Study of Doctoral Graduates in South Africa last week.?The PhD tracer study, the first such study in the country, was funded by the Department of Science and Innovation, managed by the Water Research Commission, and executed by a project team from Stellenbosch University's DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Scientometrics and Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (SciSTIP).

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The study tracked, among other things, the demographic attributes, work experience, career paths and mobility of over 32 000 doctorate holders who graduated from South African universities between 2000 and 2018.

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According to its finding, the percentages of students studying full time or part time differed depending on the scientific field, with students in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields more likely to study full time than students in the social sciences and humanities.

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Giving highlights from the study, Prof. Johann Mouton, the Director of SciSTIP and leader of the research team, indicated that the differences in the employment status of students was also linked to the age of the students. The youngest sub-group of doctoral students were full-time students in the STEM fields and the oldest group at graduation were part-time doctoral students in education.

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Further disaggregation by main science domain revealed that, for example, in the biological and environmental sciences, 34% of PhD students worked full time while they studied, while 66% studied full time.?In the physical and mathematical sciences, the percentages were 46% and 54%, respectively.

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"Looking at the country of birth of respondents during their doctoral studies we find that respondents from the rest of Africa were more likely to study full time," said Prof. Mouton.

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Nearly 60% of graduates from these countries indicated that they were not employed while enrolled for a PhD. This compares to 31% of South African nationals and 45% of graduates from elsewhere in the world.

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Most South Africa's doctoral graduates over the past 20 years have remained with the same employer since obtaining their doctorates.?This is not surprising given the percentage of all doctoral students who were already employed when they enrolled for doctoral studies.?

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A substantial number of students (20%) indicated that they accepted a postdoctoral fellowship on completion of their studies and only 2% indicated that they could not find employment in the first year after completing their doctoral degree.

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The vast majority (70%) of graduates indicated that they found employment that was directly related to their fields of expertise or training.?However, nearly one in five (18%) indicated that they could not find an employment position related to their PhD field.

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Dr Blade Nzimande, speaking at the launch, said that the event was aimed "at the dissemination of key study findings and recommendations, as well as stimulating a discussion with key stakeholder groups, whether government, business, higher education institutions, civil society or students, on the value of PhDs in society and in the economy," said the Minister.

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Mr Nhlanhla Ndlovu, CEO of Nedlac Civil Society, who participated in a panel discussion at the launch, stated that investing in PhD degrees was a big exercise and that, as South Africa was a developing country with a high unemployment rate, these degrees were a priority.

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Mr Ndlovu mentioned that, as part of the country's response to unemployment, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) had at the beginning of the year committed to having at least one community college in each district.

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The investment in the community college system requires that there should be quality teaching of staff and the production of graduates who would immediately be absorbed into the economy.?This was linked to the government's Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan.

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Looking at the country's labour market and the readiness of PhD graduates produced, Mr Thabo Mashaba of Absa said that the bank employed more than 100 doctoral students every year.

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For him, PhD graduates who studied while they were employed and funded their own studies were more easily absorbed into the various areas of the institution.

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"They use their critical thinking and innovative capabilities in various areas, particularly project financing, and the bank needs this kind of skill. ?Their progress is much faster and their contribution is much more noticeable than those that come in from outside," stated Mashaba.

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Dr Fulufhelo Nelwamondo, CEO of the National Research Foundation (NRF), said that when he looked at the job market and the rate of economic development, he saw that the appetite to employ people with PhDs in the business sector was growing.

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"So, for instance, some of the students I have seen who were in academia moved into the banking sector and telecommunication companies as soon as they got their PhDs in engineering and computer sciences," he noted.

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According to Dr Phethiwe Matutu, CEO of Universities South Africa (USAf), universities were doing well to ensure that relevant skill sets were included in various curricula. She mentioned a three-tiered system, including regular universities, universities of technology, and comprehensive educational facilities.

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Regarding entrepreneurship, Matutu stated that USAf was collaborating with DHET on a number of programmes aimed at encouraging students to become entrepreneurs.?Students receive assistance with the incubation of their businesses, as well as competitions that expose them to the business incubation methods of various countries. Furthermore, the focus was on the teaching and learning aspects of entrepreneurship.

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Dr Marcia Socikwa, Deputy-Director General: University Education at DHET, stated that PhD graduates from historically disadvantaged universities could compete with those from established universities such as the Universities of Pretoria and Cape Town.?This had emerged from a 2017 ministerial task team research report on understanding the impediments to transformation in the higher education sector.

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A young PhD graduate, Dr Thandiwe Sithole of the University of Johannesburg, said that she was grateful for the funding she had received from the NRF for her master's and doctoral degrees through the Black Academics Advancement Programme (BAAP), as well as support from her employer.

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BAAP is an intervention aimed at promoting the development of black academics, specifically South African citizens and academic staff who are black, or who have a disability, by accelerating the training of PhD and post-PhD candidates to enhance their research training and accelerate their progress towards becoming established researchers.

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Sithole urged Minister Nzimande to invest more in the programme, as she had seen how well it worked.?She has, for example, gone from eight citations in 2020 to 200.

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Through the programme, she said, she was able to publish approximately nine journal articles with the help of international collaborators.

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"I would like to propose that we do more in terms of collaborating with industries on multidisciplinary projects. ?In my case, the project involved a bit of chemistry, a bit of chemical engineering and a bit of civil engineering, and when I graduated, this multifaceted approach paved the way for me to be appointed to managerial roles," she added.

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Issued by the Department of Science and Innovation.

Click here to see the full?report.

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