Research and science capability:
Tracking Survey of Scholars and Fellows

Published: 1 Jan 2001 Victoria Link Ltd, 2001.

Scope:

Track the progression of fellows into RS&T to establish the effectiveness of the different scholarship/fellowship schemes provided by the Foundation? for Research Science and Technology, the Health Research Council and the Royal Society of NZ.

The aim of the survey was to provide an overview of human capability issues, based on the experiences and perceptions of scholars and fellows.

The target group was individuals who had completed their scholarship/fellowship before 30 June 2000.

Over 800 questionnaires were sent to scholars/fellows with 356 responses. Response rates to the questionnaire were disappointingly low, particularly from TIF Masters fellows. Although it had been hoped that the work would provide benchmarking between the different schemes, this was not evident from the results.

Foundation for Research Science and Technology schemes included in the survey were:

• TPMF (Master and PhDs)
• GRIF/TIF (Masters and PhDs)
• RS&T post-doctoral fellowship.

Summary

A separate analysis was undertaken by the Foundation of the post-doctoral fellowship results, with the following conclusions:

Perceptions of effectiveness of post-doctoral fellowships

74% of respondents felt that expertise developed through their fellowships was directly relevant to meeting current R&D needs in NZ, and 72% felt that their fellowships had positively influenced their career plans.

The most frequently cited positive influences of fellowships were:

• made it possible for fellows to return from overseas or remain in NZ (most cited benefit)
• provided opportunities for fellows to develop skills and further qualifications
• provided opportunities for fellows to undertake and develop research
• provided a career stepping stone/start or helped develop a career focus.

Over 70% stated that they were building on expertise gained through their fellowship in their first and current positions.

Only 30% indicated that the fellowship influenced their choice of area of expertise.

Places of employment and work activities for completed fellows

There was a predominance of fellows in universities (about 50%) and equal numbers in research institutes and private companies (about 25% each).

83% stated that they were currently employed in their preferred branch of RS&T. On average, fellows had been engaged in research (50-60% work time) or teaching (10-20% work time) since completion of their fellowship.

Research collaborations and links with users

Most (72%) Foundation for Research Science and Technology fellows based overseas had no scientific or technological R&D links with NZ, although the majority indicated a willingness to participate in NZ based research and cited the availability of suitable collaborators as a critical factor that would influence them to do so.

40% of overseas based respondents stated that they were providing NZ researchers with opportunities to gain qualifications or experience in their organisations. 68% of fellows had no links with NZ users in their current positions.

Salaries for ex-Foundation for Research Science and Technology fellows

Generally, Masters Fellows earned under $40k shortly after completing their fellowships. Most postdoctoral fellows earned $40-55k during this period. Overseas salaries are roughly twice that of NZ salaries.

There was no significant progression in salary levels in the early stages of a postdoctoral fellow’s career, with most earning $40-55k up to eight years after completion of their fellowship.

Global mobility issues

Overseas based respondents stated that the main reasons for being overseas were to advance their careers, seek better financial opportunities, and/or due to no suitable work opportunities in NZ. Critical factors that would influence their return to NZ were employment opportunities (permanent position, adequate salary) and personal/family reasons. The same critical factors were given for NZ based fellows remaining in NZ.

The main reasons for returning to NZ after spending time overseas were:

• family/personal/lifestyle reasons
• to take up a fellowship/scholarship/research grant in NZ
• to take up employment in NZ.

About a quarter of fellows in NZ had spent more than 3 years overseas for work related reasons other than study. There was a high level of concern about the retention and repatriation of NZ scientists.

Positive and negative factors associated with RS&T careers in NZ

Most commonly identified positive factors:

• quality of NZ research, funding support
• opportunity to carry out research relevant to NZ
• lifestyle/family, good collegial networks
• “Kiwi can-do” attitude, adaptability/creativity, innovative/interesting scope of research.

Most common difficulties and obstacles experienced:

• employment/career – lack of suitable employment, job insecurity/discontinuity, inadequate salary (prospects), lack of career structure/inability to plan
• funding – lack of funding, lack of funding security, lack of long term funding.

Other findings

The analysis of TIF scholarships found that a high percentage (about half) were students who were Asian, with many being overseas students. Considerable time was spent gaining current address information for them. The low response rate meant that we were unable to reach valid conclusions about career development.

Related work

No previous evaluations had been done of scholarships and fellowships funded by the Foundation. There have been two subsequent evaluations on the Top Achiever Doctoral Scholarships and the Enterprise Scholarships (funded from Vote Education and administered at the time by the Foundation).