Opinion column: The challenge of strengthening and diversifying advanced training for people

The president of the Postgraduate Commission Diego Cosmelli, from the Council of Rectors, argues that, despite the increases in master's and doctoral enrollments recorded in recent years, Chile still suffers from "a severe shortage of researchers.".

In this context, he asserts that "it is imperative that, as part of a medium and long-term national development strategy, a strong investment in advanced training of people be considered.".

It is well known that a higher level of education implies not only greater opportunities, but also higher incomes and, in general, a better quality of life. According to OECD data (https://stats.oecd.orgIn Chile, 541% of those entering the workforce with only a secondary education earn incomes at or just below the national median income, and only 31% earn more than twice the median. In contrast, 83% of those with a master's or doctoral degree reach this higher income bracket.

Indeed, interest in postgraduate studies has grown in our country in recent years, particularly at the doctoral level. In 2017, 5,536 students enrolled in doctoral programs and 43,162 in master's programs. In 2021, these figures reached 6,729 in doctoral programs and 46,518 in master's programs, representing an increase of 21.51% and 7.81%, respectively.www.mifuturo.cl, (Ministry of Education). During the same period, accredited doctoral programs increased from 176 to 229 and accredited master's programs increased from 296 to 380, reflecting the university system's commitment to generating the necessary capabilities to accommodate the interest in specializing at the postgraduate level.

At first glance, these indicators are positive, since it is primarily PhDs who then dedicate themselves to research, creating new knowledge, products, processes, methods, and systems, which is key to achieving diversified economies and sustained development. However, upon closer analysis, it becomes clear that Chile suffers from a severe shortage of researchers. While the OECD average is almost 9 researchers per 1,000 workers, Chile barely exceeds 1. Compared to Portugal, which has a slightly higher number of researchers per 1,000 workers than the OECD average, we are currently graduating less than half the number of PhDs annually, despite having almost twice the population. Compared to Norway, the numbers are even more unfavorable; a country with just over a quarter of our population graduates almost twice as many PhDs per year.

In this context, it is imperative that, as part of a medium and long-term national development strategy, a strong investment in advanced training of people be considered.

With the notable exception of 2021, the number of state-funded scholarships for doctoral studies has seen only a marginal increase in recent years. Chile currently boasts significant training capacity at this level of specialization, with accredited programs in virtually every field of knowledge, highly productive academic staff, and excellent international cooperation networks. Combined with a scholarship program for studies abroad strategically focused on areas of underdevelopment in Chile, strong support for postgraduate training at the national level, with an emphasis on doctoral studies, is imperative to achieve a critical mass of researchers capable of meeting the challenges we face.

But simply increasing the number of researchers is not enough. In Chile, 84.1% of PhD graduates work in higher education, essentially filling university faculty positions. Only 7.1% find employment in the private sector, and a mere 4.1% in the public sector (Survey of Career Paths of Professionals with PhDs in Chile, reference year 2019, Ministry of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation). In contrast, in the European Union, just over 30.1% remain in academia, and more than 65.1% find employment in industry or the public sector. In other words, increased funding without a strategy to diversify career paths and encourage researchers to work in both the public and private sectors is insufficient.

In this context, industry-linked doctoral programs, in which researchers are trained to the same scientific standards but develop their projects collaboratively with a partner (company, public agency, civil society organization), represent a promising path that should be strongly promoted. Countries that implement these types of programs rapidly increase their innovation capabilities, generating a virtuous and sustainable cycle.

As a country, we have an opportunity to invest in advanced training for our people and to do so in a way that will have a positive impact on all levels of society. It is urgent that we seize this opportunity to promote the knowledge-based development we so desperately need.

*Column published in newspaper The Mercury.