While the academic requirements for Graduate and Post Graduate Level Courses in India have been borrowed from overseas at the supply side; the uptake and career prospect of Technocrats in Indian job market has failed to create a commensurate demand pull.
- The entrance to IITs is well known and envied for the formidable competition and academically and intellectually challenging question paper of JEE. One really has to have lot of passion, drive, excellence focus and interest to make it to IITs.
- Further, the curriculum heavily leans on building a very strong base in Mathematics and Science. Students end up doing much more math in a day than what they could possibly get to do throughout their entire professional life.
- Predictably, all this prepares students to have an aptitude for Design and R&D.
But then,
- Who does Design and R&D in Industry for Indian consumption? …..In terms of proportions the requirement and competence utilization remains dismally low. Only very large organizations have elaborate R&D and Design Centre, but technocrats face the prospects of remaining buried for life under tall bureaucratic hierarchy; limiting severely the growth potential, and above all the potential of making significant contribution / difference.
- Manufacturing is more suited for aptitude, temperament and aspiration level of Diploma and ITI pass outs rather than graduate engineers. Shop floor managers simply do not know what to do with graduates in day to day work. Consequently, they get kicked up into becoming “Managers” too soon. We have seen examples where organizations attracted best technical talent only to squander it.
- Those who pursue career in core technology tend to suffer in terms of “relative” career progression and compensation with respect to their peers and contemporaries; scaring off others from embarking upon this path.
- Doing Post Graduation & Ph.D in Technology further brands the candidates mostly for doing Professorship. Whereas in Medical profession having specialization and super-specialization adds lot of value, but not quite so in Engineering.
- Senior a Doctor grows he / she does more and more of expertise focused work, while administration, appointments, payments and accounting part gets handled by the Secretary; but senior an Engineer grows he / she does less and less of expertise focused work and assumes a generalist work profile.
“Realistic” Options before a bright Graduate Engineer:
- Forget Core Technology – migrate to IT
- Forget Core Technology – move on, do MBA / Civil Services and become Manager / Administrator
- Outsource or delegate technology work and become just a “Manager”. This pool of talent merely floats on, or sells / buys technology. Requirement mostly is to scale down aptitude from solving differential equations to mere spreadsheet analysis.
- Those who cannot forget Core Technology, pursue Post Graduation abroad and take up a Technocrat profile job there. This pool of talent quits India and willingly gets exported as a commodity – this is REAL BRAINDRAIN
- Those who cannot forget Core Technology and cannot migrate abroad; join a “back end” office of a Multinational, or a Design house which caters exclusively for the overseas market. This pool of talent is virtually lost to India, being marooned on their island – this is VIRTUAL BRAINDRAIN
Some big questions deserve to be addressed:
1. How to kill this question forever: “Brain Drain” or “Brain down the Drain”?
2. How can the Technocrat demand pull be made commensurate to the supply?
3. How to make Core Technology a “Goal” rather than stepping stone?
4. How to transform Research and Technology Development function from “mandatory organizational appendage” OR “flaunt able ornamental icon” …. to something that really influences the life of masses?
Is it not abnormal for a country of our size and population ….of not having significant requirement for developing Core Technology in house, for our own use???
AVINASH KHARE