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Scientist union warns Aussie innovation at risk
Paul Brescia
A new report released by Professional Scientists Australia is raising the alarm on a talent drain in the Australian science community, calling for a higher value to be placed on scientists, both in wages and leadership positions.
In the employee association’s Professional Scientists Employment & Remuneration Report, respondents voiced fears that the lack of value placed on their skills, experience and qualifications was driving talented scientists overseas.
Almost two-thirds of respondents said cost-cutting was occurring at the expense of their organisation’s scientific capability, with large numbers also reporting a decline in the number of scientists in decision-making roles over the past year and a loss in science-driven innovation.
Some 71.4 per cent of respondents agreed that attracting, developing and retaining the next generation of scientists is one of the most important priorities for developing a sustainable STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workforce in Australia.
The latest figures show that Australia invests 1.88 per cent of GDP in research and development – well below the OECD average of 2.38 per cent.
“Despite the potential for science and R&D to kickstart economic growth, scientists are increasingly undervalued,” said Chief Executive Chris Walton.
“While there is a lot of ‘buzz’ around STEM, many research institutions are actually de-investing in their scientific capability by cutting resources and creating less attractive workplaces.
“If we want to maintain our reputation as a ‘clever country’, we need to do more to encourage and reward scientists who are so critical to our shift to a knowledge-based economy.”
While remuneration increases averaged 2% for scientists exceeding CPI of 1.6%, increases fell well below increases in earnings across the Australian economy as measured by the ABS Wage Price Index.
Gender discrimination, declining staff morale and unpaid overtime are also issues within the profession. More than one-third (38.2 per cent) of female respondents said they had experienced bias or discrimination on the basis of gender in the previous three years, with nearly 20 per cent experiencing sexual harassment at least once in their careers.
While a small drop in the gender pay gap was an encouraging step in the right direction, female respondents still earned on average 86.2 per cent of male respondents’ earnings – a pay gap of 13.8 per cent.
“One respondent told us ‘Talk to women about why they leave rather than trying to get more women into STEM’,” Mr Walton said. “The clear sentiment was that scientists love their work – but too often the conditions force them to leave the industry.
“A vibrant and sustainable STEM workforce is essential to virtually every goal we have as a nation. Government and private industry both need to act quickly to make scientific work an attractive and well-resourced profession, or risk damaging our capacity for innovation.”
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In 2016 I published a blog article titled Moonshots for Australia: 7 For Now. It’s one of many I have posted on business and innovation in Australia. In that book, I highlighted a number of Industries of the Future among a number of proposed Moonshots. I self-published a book, Innovation in Australia – Creating prosperity for future generations, in 2019, with a follow-up COVID edition in 2020. There is no doubt COVID is causing massive disruption. Prior to COVID, there was little conversation about National Sovereignty or supply chains. Even now, these topics are fading, and we remain preoccupied with productivity and jobs! My motivation for this writing has been the absence of a coherent narrative for Australia’s business future. Over the past six years, little has changed. The Australian ‘psyche’ regarding our political and business systems is programmed to avoid taking a long-term perspective. The short-term nature of Government (3 to 4-year terms), the short-term horizon of the business system (driven by shareholder value), the media culture (infotainment and ‘gotcha’ games), the general Australian population’s cynical perspective and a preoccupation with a lifestyle all create a malaise of strategic thinking and conversation. Ultimately, it leads to a leadership vacuum at all levels. In recent years we have seen the leadership of some of our significant institutions failing to live up to the most basic standards, with Royal Commissions, Inquiries and investigations consuming excessive time and resources. · Catholic Church and other religious bodies · Trade Unions · Banks (and businesses generally, take casinos, for example) · the Australian Defence Force · the Australian cricket teams · our elected representatives and the staff of Parliament House As they say, “A fish rots from the head!” At best, the leadership behaviour in those institutions could be described as unethical and, at worst….just bankrupt! In the last decade, politicians have led us through a game of “leadership by musical chairs” – although, for now, it has stabilised. However, there is still an absence of a coherent narrative about business and wealth creation. It is a challenge. One attempt to provide such a narrative has been the Intergenerational Reports produced by our federal Government every few years since 2002. The shortcomings of the latest Intergenerational Report Each Intergenerational Report examines the long-term sustainability of current government policies and how demographic, technological, and other structural trends may affect the economy and the budget over the next 40 years. The fifth and most recent Intergenerational Report released in 2021 (preceded by Reports in 2002, 2007, 2010 and 2015) provides a narrative about Australia’s future – in essence, it is an extension of the status quo. The Report also highlights three key insights: 1. First, our population is growing slower and ageing faster than expected. 2. The Australian economy will continue to grow, but slower than previously thought. 3. While Australia’s debt is sustainable and low by international standards, the ageing of our population will pressure revenue and expenditure. However, its release came and went with a whimper. The recent Summit on (what was it, Jobs and Skills and productivity?) also seems to have made the difference of a ‘snowflake’ in hell in terms of identifying our long-term challenges and growth industries. Let’s look back to see how we got here and what we can learn. Australia over the last 40 years During Australia’s last period of significant economic reform (the late 1980s and early 1990s), there was a positive attempt at building an inclusive national narrative between Government and business. Multiple documents were published, including: · Australia Reconstructed (1987) – ACTU · Enterprise Bargaining a Better Way of Working (1989) – Business Council of Australia · Innovation in Australia (1991) – Boston Consulting Group · Australia 2010: Creating the Future Australia (1993) – Business Council of Australia · and others. There were workshops, consultations with industry leaders, and conferences across industries to pursue a national microeconomic reform agenda. Remember these concepts? · global competitiveness · benchmarking · best practice · award restructuring and enterprising bargaining · training, management education and multiskilling. This agenda was at the heart of the business conversation. During that time, the Government encouraged high levels of engagement with stakeholders. As a result, I worked with a small group of training professionals to contribute to the debate. Our contribution included events and publications over several years, including What Dawkins, Kelty and Howard All Agree On – Human Resources Strategies for Our Nation (published by the Australian Institute of Training and Development). Unfortunately, these long-term strategic discussions are nowhere near as prevalent among Government and industry today. The 1980s and 1990s were a time of radical change in Australia. It included: · floating the $A · deregulation · award restructuring · lowering/abolishing tariffs · Corporatisation and Commercialisation Ross Garnaut posits that the reforms enabled Australia to lead the developed world in productivity growth – given that it had spent most of the 20th century at the bottom of the developed country league table. However, in his work, The Great Reset, Garnaut says that over the next 20 years, our growth was attributable to the China mining boom, and from there, we settled into “The DOG days” – Australia moved to the back of a slow-moving pack! One unintended consequence of opening our economy to the world is the emasculation of the Australian manufacturing base. The manic pursuit of increased efficiency, lower costs, and shareholder value meant much of the labour-intensive work was outsourced. Manufacturing is now less than 6% of our GDP , less than half of what it was 30 years ago!
