Training 21,000 Future Talents... Promotion of Female Employment Target System

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Junho] The government plans to nurture 21,469 future talents this year who will work in fields such as artificial intelligence. In particular, a retention and appointment target system will be implemented to foster female science and technology personnel.

The Ministry of Science and ICT held the 4th Future Talent Special Committee meeting to discuss the performance and plans for talent growth support in response to the 4th Industrial Revolution, as well as the utilization status of female science and technology personnel, on the 22nd. The committee is a comprehensive inter-ministerial coordination body under the National Science and Technology Advisory Council for science and technology talent policy.

Future Talents: 21,000 Again This Year

Through this meeting, the government announced that last year, 21,407 talents were nurtured in key fields such as artificial intelligence, software, big data, future-type automobiles, and smart factories. This number far exceeded the target of 17,848, cultivating a workforce to lead the 4th Industrial Revolution.

The target for this year is set at 21,469, which is 62 more than last year's performance. The government stated that it set a talent nurturing goal exceeding the original plan (20,739) and will strengthen task management and performance monitoring.

To achieve the target, the government will select three additional AI graduate schools this year. The first education program of the Innovation Academy, '42 SEOUL,' will also begin its main course. New projects supporting industry-academia linked research activities for new PhDs (KIURI) and attracting outstanding overseas researchers (BP+) will be promoted.

Introduction of Retention and Appointment Target System for Female Science and Technology Personnel

Additionally, the government will introduce a retention and appointment target system following the hiring and promotion target system for female science and technology personnel. Since certain achievements have been made in hiring and promotion of female personnel, the scope will be expanded to set target ratios for retention and appointments as well. As of 2018, the retention rate of female science and technology personnel was only 19.3%. Hiring accounted for 31.1%, and promotion about 17.4%.

Moreover, the government has prepared measures to elevate four science and technology institutes into the world’s top 10 universities. A joint board of directors system will be promoted among the four institutes, and the role of the joint secretariat will be expanded to strengthen cooperation among the institutes. Furthermore, tenure will be guaranteed at a world university level, and performance evaluations for tenured faculty will be strengthened. The faculty personnel committee and research integrity committee will increase the proportion of external members and implement an external recruitment system for key positions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.