Moving Forward with a World-Class Graduate Education System

Moving Forward with a World-Class Graduate Education System

Pre-Budget Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance regarding the 2010 Federal Budget

Presented by Dr. Carolyn Watters

President of the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies

The Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS) is a national organization of 55 institutions engaged in graduate education and research in all academic disciplines. It includes the graduate student associations that together represent 165,000 graduate students. CAGS’ mission is to promote graduate education. It achieves its mission through the organization of conferences, the publication of reports and advocacy at the federal level.

Executive Summary

The Canadian Association for Graduate Studies (CAGS) shares the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance’s interest in “moving forward” and identifying “the measures needed to ensure prosperity and a sustainable economic, social and environmental future”. Canada faces powerful challenges immediately and in the years to come: an economy yet to be recovered, and an enduring productivity gap with the United States. We must respond to these challenges with strategic public policies.

In Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada’s Advantage (2007), commonly referred to as the Science and Technology Strategy (S&T), the government undertook to create “the best-educated, most-skilled, and most flexible workforce in the world”. This major objective was reaffirmed in the government’s Progress Report (2009) of the S&T Strategy and in several speeches made recently by the Minister of State (Science and Technology)[1]. Achieving this aim, however, means that we need to further support our world-class graduate education system. The S&T Strategy argues convincingly that “world-class research excellence is Canada’s standard”. Consequently, we make the following three recommendations to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance to enhance the quality of Canadian graduate education:

First, invest in graduate students by increasing the number of graduate scholarships.

Second, maintain a balanced approach between basic research funding and targeted funding.

Third, invest in postdoctoral fellows by increasing the number of postdoctoral fellowships.

A World-Class Graduate Education for Recovery

The government of Canada plays a critical role in supporting university research and graduate education through its three research-granting councils: the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, (CIHR); the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, (NSERC); and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). These councils provide support for direct research grant programs, scholarship support for graduate students, fellowship support for postdoctoral scholars, and a portion of the indirect costs of research. Our universities play a major role in the creation of new knowledge, and in the preparation of the next generation of researchers and knowledge economy workers. In 2006, 25% of researchers in Canada were employed by universities[2]. Graduate education is the engine that drives university research. Graduate schools train the scientists, researchers, engineers, public policy makers, health professions, and other experts in the wide range of disciplines that are crucial to the competitiveness and prosperity of Canada in the 21st century. We are at a crucial moment for research and graduate education.

The Budget 2009, through the Knowledge Infrastructure Program, invested $2B over two years to modernize, renovate and repair higher education facilities used for instruction, research and student housing. This massive investment was smart and its effects will be felt at campuses and beyond across the country. Collectively, Canadian universities are seriously lagging in infrastructure to support higher levels of research output, in both the sciences and social sciences. The quality of teaching and research facilities directly affects research output and student experience. In fact, we need another recession fighting budget, aligned with long term economic policies. Our universities, and especially our graduate schools with their students and staff, are valuable components of economic recovery in both short and long term.

Harvard University economic professors, Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz, in their recent seminal book, The Race Between Education and Technology[3], demonstrate convincingly that the United States became the world’s richest nation by greater investments in human capital than other countries, in other words, by putting in place the world’s best education system.

The Conference Board of Canada, in its annual Report Card, noted that our standard of living has fallen to the ninth in the world from fourth in 1990, explaining that the slide in our economic performance is related to our low productivity, 15th out of our 17 OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) peer countries. The Conference Board also reminds us that, compared to other OECD nations, our participation rates are very high for community colleges; average for undergraduate university degrees; and strikingly low for graduate degrees, especially in mathematics, science, computer science, and engineering. “Canada is losing ground”, states the Report, “to other countries that are better at exploiting their own advantages”. The Conference Board argues that the idea that Canada has a highly-educated population and is a world leader in science and technology is a myth.[4] Obviously, we have a graduate education deficit. We need to do much more if we want to meet the objective of the S&T Strategy.

Other countries are stepping up their commitment to higher education and research, notably the United States and the European Union. In the former, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, 2009, allocates more than US$100B toward education and President Obama, the “science friendly president”, in a speech to the National Academy of Science, on April 27, 2009, set the goal to invest 3% of the US Gross Domestic Product in R&D, exceeding the level achieved at the height of the space race in 1964. The latter is determined to “restore Europe’s past pre-eminence in higher education and research”.

1. Invest in Graduate Students

The S&T Strategy correctly notes that “talented, skilled, creative people are the most critical element of a successful national economy over the long term”.[5] Graduate education in Canada went though an unprecedented expansion in recent years. Graduate level enrolment in Canadian universities grew from 134,955 in 2002-2003 to 165,789 in 2007-2008[6], a 22.8% increase in a five year period, reflecting the demands of the knowledge economy for more highly-trained workers. Despite these increases, our participation rate at the graduate level remains relatively low. The Science, Technology and Innovation Council reminded us, in its recent report, that “Canada ranks 20th in the number of new PhD graduates per million population”.[7] Similar enrolment increases in higher education are experienced in most other OECD countries, (graduate enrolment in the United States rose by an average of 3% per year between 1997 and 2007[8]), and this trend is expected to continue in the next twenty years[9]. For example, data from the US Bureau of Labour Statistics show that, between 2006 and 2016, the percentage of PhDs in the US workforce is expected to increase by 22% and the proportion of MAs by 19%; compared with 15% for BAs.[10] The need for advanced skills provided by graduate studies is increasingly clear.

It should be noted that there were 23,544 international graduate students in Canada in 2005 or 15.3% of graduate students, 13.9% at the Master’s and 21.3% at the Doctorate. The proportion of international graduate students has steadily increased in the past 10 years going from 10.9% of graduate students in 1997 to 15.3% in 2005.[11] International students in tertiary education are highly concentrated in a few countries. Two-thirds of them are studying in only seven destination countries, and Canada is the 6th of these countries (after the US, UK, Germany, France and Australia) with 5.1% of international students[12], reflecting our world-class graduate education system. The competition for top graduate students worldwide is very stiff. These international students make an important contribution to Canadian society, helping us deal with our demographic and economic challenges, and we should strive to increase their number. Many international students remain in Canada after they complete their studies. They are a prime source of immigrants: they are well-educated, familiar with the language and culture, and are already recognized as a valuable resource by the private sector. Those who return to their home countries become leaders there and maintain good connections with Canada.

If Canada is to capitalize on this increased demand for a highly skilled workforce, then increased support at all levels for this training is essential. Graduate student funding needs to be a government priority. Our best graduate students are funded directly through a range of scholarships, from Vanier Scholarships to the Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS). Inadequate support greatly compromises both the quantity and quality of research in Canadian universities as graduate students who are sufficiently funded devote their time and energy to their studies, complete their programs faster, and are more productive. Long term stable increases in the number of scholarships available to graduate students are essential to the development of long term research agendas across a broad range of disciplines.

Budget 2009 expanded temporarily the CGS Program by providing an additional $87.5 million over three years, starting in 2009-10. The new funds will provide for an additional 500 doctoral scholarships, valued at $35,000 each per year for three years beginning in 2009-10; and an additional 1,000 Master’s scholarships, valued at $17,500 each for one year, in both 2009-10 and 2010-11. The CGS Program was created in Budget 2003, and currently supports 2,500 Master’s students and 2,500 doctoral students. We recommend that the expansion of the CGS Program be permanent at a cost of $70M in the next two years and $70M yearly after that and a 5% yearly increase in the number of Canada Graduate Scholarships (125 X $17,500 + 125 X $35,000) available to both domestic and international graduate students at each council at the cost of $6,562,500 per year.

2. Maintain a balanced approach between basic research funding and targeted funding

The symbiotic relationship of researcher grants and graduate student funding is well established. A large proportion of all research grant money is spent directly for graduate students in both applied and basic research areas. The research needed for Canada to be successful simply cannot be conducted without well-trained and well-funded graduate students. Most research funding increases to the federal research-granting councils in the last two years have been to targeted government priorities. While strategic targeting is necessary in a time of competitive pressure and increased costs of doing research, over-targeting of results in time reduces our capacity to produce the basic research upon which future innovation is built.

At the same time, research is increasingly interdisciplinary, with new and innovative discoveries being made in partnerships spanning disciplines and streams of research. To focus on narrow aspects of research is contrary to the reality of academic inquiry today, and often prevents the research community from contributing fully to the advancement of knowledge in those government priorities. Participation in research benefits society by educating and training the next generation of graduate students who will enter the workforce not only in academic research, but as highly skilled workers in the private and public sectors. One fact that escapes most Canadians is that most of the graduates from our graduate programs are not actually employed in the academic sector, but make a direct contribution in the private sector in engineering, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and aerospace, and equally in the public sector in government policy, health delivery, and non-governmental organizations.

The government’s approach to funding for research should be balanced, including both basic and targeted research. By a balanced approach, we mean, for example, that new funding to the federal research-granting councils also be directed toward basic research. Indeed, the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology recommended that the Government of Canada not limit additional funding in S&T to priority areas[13], and Minister of State (Science and Technology), Gary Goodyear, confirmed several times in the past months the government’s commitment “to basic discovery -oriented research”.

3. Invest in postdoctoral fellows

Research in Canada depends on the output of graduate students, and increasingly on the postdoctoral fellows working in our academic institutions and with our industrial partners. The postdoctoral population has grown rapidly in recent years, as increased requirements for advanced skills and training are required for entry to the profession. There are approximately 6,000 postdoctoral scholars in Canadian universities, of these 39% are international researchers[14]. This number will grow while universities are under increased pressure to hold hiring into the faculty ranks until the economy recovers.

Postdoctoral fellowships are typically 2-4 year assignments designed to provide additional training in research for recent PhD graduates. The fellows work full-time under the supervision of a faculty member at their university, contributing to the research productivity of their lab and often doing substantial independent research of their own. These young researchers make significant contributions to their field, and enhance their chance of securing a more permanent position in academia and in the public and private sectors. Currently, most postdoctoral fellows are funded by the federal granting councils–directly as a fellowship or through a research grant–, or the private sector.

They are more than contributing members of the Canadian research enterprise. Postdoctoral fellows are the next generation of researchers in the final stage of training. We have, as a nation, invested heavily in these people, whether Canadians or from abroad, and we need to be prepared to complete their training, keep them integrated in Canadian research, and retain the best in Canada to provide the research leadership we will need as the economy evolves. It is important for Canada to invest directly now in postdoctoral fellows to help both universities and private enterprises hold onto to the talent that will enable us to compete more effectively through innovation and discovery.

We recommend that the Government of Canada increase the number of postdoctoral fellowships available through the federal granting councils, from roughly 500 per year to 4,000 per year at the cost of $140M (3,500 X $40,000).

This is the time for leveraging our talents to enable the strongest impact on the development of a new economy for Canada as the economy begins to recover.

We thank the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for its attention to this matter. Please contact me (, T: 902 494 6723) if you need any further information.

August 14, 2009

Canadian Association for Graduate Studies

301-260 St Patrick Street

Ottawa, ON, K1N 5K5

T: 613 562 0949 F: 613 562 9009

1

[1] The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Science and Technology Policy (Moncton, July 24, 2009),

[2] Statistics Canada, Research and Development Personnel (Ottawa, June 4, 2009).

[3] Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz, The Race Between Education and Technology (Cambridge: Harvard University Press), 2008.

[4] The Conference Board of Canada, How Canada Performs, A Report Card on Canada (June 30, 2008),

[5] Industry Canada, Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada’s Advantage (Ottawa, 2007), p. 10.

[6] Statistics Canada, University Enrolment, 2007-2008 (Ottawa, July 13, 2009),

[7] Science, Technology and Innovation Council, State of the Nation 2008, Canada’s Science, Technology and Innovation System (Ottawa, 2009), p. 45.

[8] Council of Graduate Schools, Graduate Enrollment and Degrees: 1997 to 2007 (Washington, DC, 2008), p. 38.

[9] OECD, Higher Education to 2030, vol. 1, Demography (Paris, 2008), p. 13.

[10] The Educational Policy Institute, The Swail Letter on Higher Education, “Linking Jobs and Higher Education” Virginia Beach, June 2009, p. 3-4.

[11] Canadian Association for Graduate Studies, 37th Statistical Report, 1992-2005 (Ottawa, 2008), p. 54.

[12] OECD, Education Today, The OECD Perspective (Paris, 2009), p. 43.

[13] Parliament of Canada, Senate, Sixteenth Report of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology (Ottawa, April 2008), p. 5.

[14] Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars, Results of the Canada Postdoctoral Survey (July 2009),