The Missing Linkage Between Science Technology and Innovation Policy and the Scientific Workforce—Evidence from Colombia

STIP (science, technology, and innovation policy/es) strive to give direction and incentives to the formation and specialization of the scientific workforce. How to draw the linkage between both factors of the national STI system? Here we explore the correlation between highly strategic research areas/fields supported by STIP and the scientific workforce of Colombia from 2013 to 2021. We used a dataset of 225 research funding calls and a sample of 28,000 + scientist profiles. We found no statistically significant correlation between both variables. Our discussion orbited around government STIP transitions, STIP models, and STIP timing of implementation. Our contribution lies in proposing a standardized and replicable diagnosis to identify strategic research areas/fields supported by STIP to the absent literature on STIP-scientific workforce relationship in the contexts of middle and low-income countries.