Rosaline (Ros) Hirschowitz has had over 30 years of working experience as a researcher, research manager, Deputy Director General of Statistics South Africa, and more recently as a self-employed research consultant and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) specialist.

She has more than 30 publications to her name on a large variety of socio-economic topics. Her publications include articles in peer-reviewed journals as well as chapters in published books. She has also written a variety of reports and has compiled a series of presentations for different groups of users. She obtained her MA (cum laude) and her D Litt et Phil from the University of South Africa (UNISA).

During the 1980s, she worked at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in South Africa for about 10 years and was promoted from a researcher to the Head of Research: Human Resource Utilisation Component, as her final job title in the HSRC. She then worked at two NGOs during the early 1990s – firstly at the Alexandra Health Centre and University Clinic, which included the Institute for Urban Primary Health Care, as a research manager, and secondly at the Community Agency for Social Enquiry (C A S E) as a senior specialist researcher.

As a researcher and research manager in the above three organisations, she was involved in conducting and managing research projects on a wide variety of socio-economic topics.

From January 1996 – January 2006, following on the introduction of democracy in South Africa, she worked at Stats SA, the official statistics agency of the country, for 10 years.

• She was responsible, at different times, for the production of demographic, social and economic statistics for the country;
• She ran the household survey programme of Stats SA;
• She was also responsible for quality assurance of all data gathered by Stats SA;
• In addition, she was responsible for Census 2001.

She retired from Stats SA as a Deputy Director General (DDG), having been promoted from a Director to a Chief Director and then to Deputy Director General. Also, between July and November 2000, and on various other occasions, she was the acting Statistician General for the country.

• She developed the training manuals for a variety of modules on M&E for the South African Public Administration Leadership and Management Academy (PALAMA), the official training institute of the South African government.
• She also assisted in quality assurance, regarding the development of outcome indicators for the Western Cape Provincial Government.
• She is also an Associate Visiting Professor for the Education Policy Unit of the University of South Africa.