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The Early Career Paths and Employment Conditions of the Academic Profession in 17 Countries

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  • Bennion, Alice
  • Locke, William

Abstract

The expansion of higher education systems, new demands on institutions and growing pressures on resources have become common trends across most developed countries. They bring increased expectations of academic staff and appear to lead to greater differentiation in their work roles and activities. At the same time, the backgrounds of some academics are changing and they are developing new specialisms and interdisciplinary collaborations, becoming more mobile domestically and internationally and, for some, the profession is becoming increasingly insecure. The Changing Academic Profession study has produced a rich set of data on the preparation of academics for their roles and the individual circumstances of their working lives, among other aspects of the profession. Respondents to the survey reported on the degrees they have attained, the countries in which they studied for them, the age at which they qualified and the nature of the doctoral training they received. This paper explores the early career paths of academics, makes initial comparisons between different higher education systems and begins to explore how some of these national systems interrelate with each other through academic mobility. Respondents also reported on the disciplines they studied and now teach, the number of institutions worked in and their contractual conditions and income. These data give an indication of the various degrees of flexibility and mobility required of – or chosen by – academics in the early and later stages of their careers and the stability, or perhaps rigidity, of different higher education systems and national career patterns. The data also supplement other evidence of the employment conditions and remuneration of scholars in an increasingly globalised academic labour market.1,2 The conditions of academic work are explored through analysis of the views of survey respondents on the facilities, resources and personnel needed to support it and the degree of research collaboration undertaken. Academics from the 17 countries in the study seem more content with the physical and technical resources provided by their institutions than the personnel and funds available to support teaching and research. Finally, it is suggested that the propensity for collaborative or individual research may be partially related to national differences in academics’ mobility during their training for the profession.

Suggested Citation

  • Bennion, Alice & Locke, William, 2010. "The Early Career Paths and Employment Conditions of the Academic Profession in 17 Countries," European Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(S1), pages 7-33, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:eurrev:v:18:y:2010:i:s1:p:s7-s33_99
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    Cited by:

    1. Spronken-Smith, Rachel, 2018. "REFORMING DOCTORAL EDUCATION: There is a Better Way," University of California at Berkeley, Center for Studies in Higher Education qt4s08b4jx, Center for Studies in Higher Education, UC Berkeley.
    2. Marzolla, Moreno, 2016. "Assessing evaluation procedures for individual researchers: The case of the Italian National Scientific Qualification," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 408-438.
    3. Fulvio Castellacci & Clara Viñas-Bardolet, "undated". "Permanent Contracts and Job Satisfaction in Academia: Evidence from European Countries," IRMO Occasional Papers 7, Institute for Development and International Relations, Zagreb.
    4. Sabrine El Baroudi & Svetlana N. Khapova, 2021. "Academic Expatriation to Emerging Economies: A Career Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-10, April.
    5. Stefan Reichmann & Thomas Klebel & Ilire Hasani‐Mavriqi & Tony Ross‐Hellauer, 2021. "Between administration and research: Understanding data management practices in an institutional context," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 72(11), pages 1415-1431, November.

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