Ratio of Singaporeans to Foreigners in Autonomous Universities for Faculty Members
Ministry of EducationSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns MP Leon Perera’s inquiry into the 10-year ratio of Singaporean to foreign faculty in Autonomous Universities (AUs) across various academic tracks and departments. Second Minister for Education Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman stated that the overall proportion of Singaporean faculty and those in Humanities and Social Sciences has remained stable at approximately 50%. He noted that Singaporeans comprise around 40% of tenured or tenure-track faculty in major AUs, while the proportion in non-tenure track roles is higher, averaging 60% over the decade. To strengthen the Singaporean Core, AUs conduct outreach to overseas Singaporean academics and utilize the Singapore Teaching and Academic Research Talent Scheme (START) established in 2015. This policy has resulted in 162 START award recipients to date, supporting Singaporeans who are keen on pursuing academic careers within the local university ecosystem.
Transcript
6 Mr Leon Perera asked the Minister for Education for each year in the past 10 years, what is the respective ratio of Singaporeans to foreigners in Autonomous Universities for faculty members (i) on an overall basis (ii) for Humanities and Social Science-related departments (iii) on the tenure track and (iv) on the non-tenure track.
The Second Minister for Education (Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman) (for the Minister for Education): Mr Speaker, the number of Singaporean faculty as a proportion of the overall faculty in the Autonomous Universities (AUs) has remained stable at around 50% over the past 10 years. Based on available data over the past five years, the proportion of Singaporean faculty in the Humanities and Social Sciences-related departments in our AUs is around 50%.
For National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Management University (SMU) and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), which have a tenure system, the proportion of Singaporeans in tenured and tenure-track faculty has remained stable at around 40% over the past 10 years. For faculty on the non-tenure track, the proportion of Singaporeans is higher, averaging at around 60% over the past 10 years.
We will continue to work with the AUs to build a strong Singaporean Core in our faculty. The AUs actively reach out to Singaporean academics based overseas to attract them to come back to Singapore. We also support young Singaporeans keen on pursuing an academic career at the AUs through the Singapore Teaching and Academic Research Talent Scheme (START) which was introduced in 2015. There are 162 START award recipients to date.