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Entering Academia: Career Logics in Germany NIFU Conference, Oslo 31 May 2013

Entering Academia: Career Logics in Germany NIFU Conference, Oslo 31 May 2013 Prof. Dr. Barbara M. Kehm IBK.Kehm@t-online.de. Structure of Presentation Introduction Status of Doctoral Candidates Basic Principles of the Academic Job Market The Labour Market for Young Academics

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Entering Academia: Career Logics in Germany NIFU Conference, Oslo 31 May 2013

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  1. Entering Academia: Career Logics in Germany NIFU Conference, Oslo 31 May 2013 Prof.Dr. Barbara M. Kehm IBK.Kehm@t-online.de

  2. Structure of Presentation Introduction Status of Doctoral Candidates Basic Principles of the Academic Job Market The Labour Market for Young Academics Contracts at Entry Level Socialization into Academic Norms/Values Current Situation of Junior Academics Main Challenges and Future Trends

  3. 1. Introduction Enteringacademia in Germany isdiversifiedandhazardous Diversified: due toseveraloptions (universities, univ. ofappliedsciences, extra-univ. researchinstitutes) Hazardous: due to lack of proper andreliablecareerprogress PhDasnecessary but not sufficientrequirement Status ofPhDcandidates: diversified (junioracademicstaff, contractresearcher, scholarship holder, externalcandidate)

  4. 2. Status of Doctoral Candidates 118 universities with the right to award doctoral degrees (more than 25,000 annually, among them 44% women, 15% foreigners) No statistics of PhDs in progress; estimated to be about 200,000 in 2010 No students but more than 50% as part-time employees (research and teaching assistants) Bologna: structured doctoral programmes often adding to existing workload About 10% of the 25,000 to 26,000 completed PhDs make it into a professorship Getting tenure almost impossible below professorship

  5. 3. Basic Principlesofthe Academic Job Market Focus on universities: Traditional „high road“ ishabilitation (seconddoctorate), but onlyeligibility, noguarantee Since 2002: juniorprofessorship (6 years); altogether 1,200 atthe end of 2010 No proper „post-doc“ phase Average ageofnewlyrecruitedprofessors in 2010: 40.5 years Germany has an „externallabourmarket“ (Musselin) foracademics

  6. Career progress/promotion can only be achieved by applying for a position at another university Basic principle of contract duration: 6 years before and 6 years after PhD, after that: up or out Alternative: contract researcher with a series of fixed-term contracts for the duration of the respective project

  7. 4. The Labour Market for Young Academics Extremely difficult to define the academic labour market in Germany in quantitative terms Between 2001 and 2010 there was an overall increase in academic staff of 31%, but: - professors: + 10% - assistants/lecturers: - 72% - junior staff (doct.): + 54% special teaching staff: + 30% Increase in lower paid, less secure positions with fewer options for career progression

  8. Contractsat Entry-Level Doctoralcandidatesemplyedasteachingandresearchassistantsreceive 50% to 65% contractsfor 4 to 6 years (annualgrossincomebetween 19,000 and 22,000 €) Post-docsandjuniorprofessorsreceive 100% contractsforupto 6 years (annualgrossincomebetween 38,000 and 50,000 €) Thereare a numberoffringebenefitsandsenioritylevels. Performance relatedsalarycomponentsforjunior, associate, andfullprofessors.

  9. 6. Socialisationinto Academic Norms/Values Studentsbywatchingtheirprofessors (habitustheoryof Bourdieu) but also instructionaboutplagiarism, academicwriting, quotingandreferencing Bologna process: genericskillstoincreaseemployability Duringdoctoraland post-docphase: increasingattentiontonetworking, participation in international conferences, projectmanagement, publicationstrategies

  10. 4. Current Situation of Junior Academics In Germany the non-academiclabourmarketisparticularly open fordoctoraldegreeholders Foracademicjobsthereisfiercecompetition in somesubjectswhileotherhaveproblemsfillingtheirvacantprofessorships Academic jobopening must beadvertisedpublicly (increasinglyinternationallyaswell) About 40% ofdoctoraldegreeholders end up in jobswithinthehighereducationsector, another 15 to 17% in R&D Jobs outside academiamostlybetterpaid

  11. But: there are a number of intransparent and informal elements in academic recruitment processes that prevent reliable and clear-cut career progress Being appropriately qualified and eligible is no guarantee that one will be successful in getting a professorship in the end Best chance: trying again and again until one gets lucky

  12. Main Challengesand Future Trends • Shapingthedoctoraland post-docphasehasbecome a politcalconcern in Germany • Therearedemandstoprovidemorestructuredandsystematicpathwaysinto an academiccareerbecausethe German systemdrives out thebesttalent • Currentlyteachingandresearchareheavilyput on theshouldersofyoung, non-tenuredacademicstaff

  13. Basic challengesforthefuture: • Creationoftenuredpositionsbelowtheprofessorship • Establishment ofregularcareerpathways, includingevaluationofperformance • Abolishmentofthe de facto prohibitiontogetpromotedwithinthe same university • Reducingtheimpactofstafffluctuationandcommuting on people‘ssocialand private life • Reducingthedurationoftheprocesstofill a professorship (upto 2 years)

  14. Thank you for your attention!

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