This presentation explore the impact of the Indian culture on research productivity and innovation. It also examines how does the culture work to impact research and innovation

1. Impact of Indian Culture
on Research Productivity
and Innovation
ANUP K SINGH, PHD

2. Historical Roots
 India produced some of the best mathematician minds in the world
 She is credited with the invention of zero and decimal system
 Arabs came and spread the mathematical knowledge produced in India worldwide
 For several centuries, there was no focus on knowledge and scientific rationality
 During the 200 years of the British raj, there were hardly any research institutions of repute
 The British education was more driven to create employees than to produce scholars
and scientists
 Rich Indians, who went to England for higher education, studied law, humanities and
social sciences and not science and technology
 Philosophical approach rather than critical approach on reality dominated Indian
scholars

3. Contd…
 Lack of scientific training and temper post-independence in spite of efforts put by late Prime
Minster Jawahar Lal Nehru
 Several centres of excellence were created in the 50s and 60s
 Focus on mission-based research; little emphasis on university research
 IISc, TIFR and a few IITs stressed on mission-based research
 IITs, IIMs and CISR institutes did not strongly focus on doctoral training
 Most state universities were politicised and affiliating; they at best focussed on teaching
 Low quality universities have created a massive racket of fake PhD degree
 Obtaining of university doctoral degree is influenced by so many non-academic factors
 Industry spend on Research and Development has been low
 We have been far from the knowledge economy
 We have had accentuated crony capitalism and feudal capitalism

4. Post-Independence Industry and R&D
 Indian entrepreneurship was more driven by profit motif than by innovation
 Big Indian industries made money, using crony capitalism
 They did not compete on the basis of research and innovation
 Most promoters were not technocrats. Those who had technical background
hardly used research and innovation for enhancing competitiveness
 Dominance of the industry by business families prevented research orientation;
they engaged in tested businesses and avoided research and innovation
 There is a yawning gap between the industry and universities
 An eco-system to develop and protect intellectual capital is feeble

5. Indians in the US
 In the 60s, a large number of Indians trained in IITs, IIMs and other centres
of excellence went for higher education in the US
 Many of them opted for research careers in the Universities and R&D
departments
 In general, they excelled as scientists. They benefitted from the
knowledge economy ecosystem of the United States
 They could combine the best of India and the US
 Later in the 90s, many IT professionals excelled as entrepreneurs and
innovators
 However, the same impact is yet to be felt in India

6. Child Rearing Practices
 Discouragement to asking questions by children
 Greater emphasis on traditional belief system than on critical thinking
 Lesser focus on the development of independence and independent
thinking
 Rote learning still prevalent
 Learning by doing is conspicuous by its absence
 More cultural tilt on harmony with nature than on the control of nature

7. Schooling and Research
 A large population of young people are deprived of primary education
 Governmental focus on quantity than on quality of primary education
 Poor literary and numerical achievement by students
 Impoverished labs
 Emphasis on rote learning
 Use of ICT is abysmal
 Teachers themselves lack scientific mind-set

8. Higher Education System
 Poor GER ratio compared to China, Brazil and Russia
 Research is less emphasised in undergraduate programmes
 Communication skills for scientific writing not emphasised
 English language skills are less developed among scientists.
 Labs for post graduate programmes in most institutions are insufficiently equipped
 Lack of trained researchers at PG level
 PhD work is more for degree than for knowledge generation
 Plagiarism and malpractices in research are rampant
 Training at PhD level is insufficient
 Research eco-system in institutions is abysmal

9. Dominant Values of Indian Culture
 High power distance and dependency
 High obedience to and dependence on authority and teachers
 Preference of equality over excellence
 Low on the values of experimentation, openness, authenticity and
confrontation
 More emphasis on ‘argumentation’ than on ‘observation’
 Greater stress on individualism, even at the cost of professional
collaboration
 Soft approach to science and scientific inquiry

10. Consequences for Research Culture
 Under playing of empirical knowledge and scientific approach to manage the
problems of life
 Scant availability of research leaders
 Weak collegiality in institutions
 Low inter-disciplinary, and team-based research work
 Low communication among students and scholars
 Sometimes quality is compromised in the conduct of experimentation and
other studies
 Lack of rigour in the conduct of research and publications
 Low relevance due to poor connectivity with the industry
 Less emphasis on publishing and patenting