The Malta Chamber of Scientists has expressed concern at the fall in the number of students graduating at tertiary level in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
It was commenting after having reviewed the second edition of the National Research and Innovation Monitoring Report 2019–2020 published recently by the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST). The report covers the implementation of the National R&I Strategy from 2014 to 2020, and is meant to demonstrate the progress towards achieving the goals and actions defined in this strategy.
The report revealed that Malta’s gross expenditure on research and development (R&D) as a percentage of GDP stands at 0.61 per cent, still well below the 2020 target of two per cent. There has also been a fall in the number of tertiary graduates in STEM, and a drop in R&D investment by the private sector, both in terms of the number of researchers employed and in spending, despite an increase in the number of firms that have benefited from government-funded R&D projects. The chamber said this is concerning “as the private sector is a key stakeholder in any national R&I ecosystem. Having a sufficiently large pool of STEM graduates is essential for an economy to remain attractive and competitive.”
The report revealed a steady decrease in employment in knowledge intensive activities
The report also revealed a steady fall in employment in knowledge-intensive activities – Malta’s target is to have at least 55 per cent of activities, with at least 33 per cent of the workforce at the activities having tertiary education – but the actual percentage currently stands at 40.3 per cent. In addition, only 37.8 per cent of enterprises are involved in innovation activities, whereas the 2020 target was 50 per cent.
On a positive note, the chamber said the report revealed there had been a steady increase in the number of researchers working in higher education. “This appears to be mainly caused by an increase in the researchers being employed on a definite-contract basis at public academic institutions such as the university and MCAST,” the chamber said. “A principal driver of this is the rapid increase in the ability of such organisations to attract competitive EU funds for R&I.”
But the chamber said further studies are needed to understand the retention rate of these researchers, for instance whether they eventually find employment in the private R&D sector in Malta. “This is of particular concern since no career track exists for researchers in the Maltese public sector, at variance with most other European countries.”
Another positive indication from the report is that the number of people holding PhDs as a percentage of the active population has increased to 0.84 per cent, which is above the 2020 target of 0.6 per cent. The chamber remarked that while this is positive, further investigation is needed to establish if these graduates actually find employment in Malta in positions that require PhD-level skills.
The chamber said it was committed to collaborate with all stakeholders to continue building a better R&I ecosystem for Malta, and to improve opportunities and conditions for Maltese scientists and researchers.