Varsity brain drain

By Nashira Davids and Philani Nombenbe. Academics are hitting the road for the promise of big money in the private and public sectors. The trend has prompted a study by Higher Education SA, which has members in all 23 of this country's universities.
"There is recognition that the salaries of academic workers do not keep pace with those of employees in other sectors of the economy," Higher Education CEO Jeffrey Mabelebele said.
"[We are] conducting a study on academic salaries across the entire public university sector with a view to determining a benchmark."
A recent advertisement by the University of Cape Town's department of chemical engineering put the salary and benefits for a senior lecturer at over R500000 a year. Read more...