Biographies and Careers throughout Academic Life

The book draws on the 2007 Changing Academic Profession international survey in order to document the personal characteristics, career trajectories, sense of identity/commitment and job satisfaction of academics in 14 countries with different levels of economic and social development and different higher education systems. With nearly 26,000 academics surveyed in 19 countries (of which 14 are reporting their results in this volume), the empirical basis of the book is the most up-to-date and far-reaching in the area.

With major changes taking place both in the local and global contexts of higher education and in the working conditions within individual universities, as exemplified by increasing managerialism and performance-based funding, it is important to consider the impact of these changes on the profiles and working lives of the academic profession across different countries. But it is also important to look at the ways in which the faculty's changing profile impacts on the organisation and management of universities and on the delivery of their central functions.

Although not always obvious in the short-term, academic work and its conditions attract, incorporate and promote different types of individuals who, in turn, exert considerable influence on the nature of academic work, higher education institutions and, potentially, society. As faculty members are central to the teaching, research and service enterprise activities of higher education, it is important to understand their personal characteristics, career trajectories, sense of identity and commitment, and job satisfaction. These are central for understanding the academic profession in generaland, in particular, the factors affecting their involvement and productivity in the work of their institutions. These are a complex result of a mixture of contextual factors (e.g. the status and regulatory framework of the higher education system, the features and atmosphere of the particular institution) and personal factors (e.g. gender, educational attainment, family background, attitudes to work and broader social values).This book examines the different situations facing the academic profession in individual countries and provides comparative studies of country differences.

Offers the most up-to date and far-reaching empirical results so far Provides a snapshot picture of the academic profession for each participating country Links some of the results to the findings of the 1992 survey of the academic profession

Contenu
1 Biographies and Careers throughout Academic Life: Introductory Comments. Jesús F. Galaz-Fontes, Akira Arimoto, Ulrich Teichler, and John Brennan. - Part I. Emerging Higher Education Systems. 2 Identity Features and Working Conditions of Argentine Academics: A Comparative Study of Two Disciplinary Communities. Mercedes Leal, Sergio Robin, and María A. Maidana. 3 Brazilian Higher Education: Converging Trajectory Patterns in a Diverse Institutional Environment. Elizabeth Balbachevsky.- 4 Personal Characteristics, Career Trajectory and Job Satisfaction of Academics in Malaysia. Vincent Pang, Norzaini Azman, Morshidi Sirat, and Koo Yew Lie.- 5 The Mexican Academic Profession between Centuries: Who are the Actors? Manuel Gil-Antón, Laura E. Padilla-González, and Jesús F. Galaz-Fontes.- 6 The South African Academic Profession: Personal Characteristics, Career Trajectories, Identities and Sense of Commitment. Charl C. Wolhuter, Philip Higgs, and Leonie G. Higgs.- Part II. Mature HigherEducation Systems.- 7 The Changing Academic Profession in Canada: Personal Characteristics, Career Trajectories, Sense of Identity/Commitment and Job Satisfaction. Amy Scott Metcalfe, Donald Fisher, Glen Jones, Yves Gingras, Kjell Rubenson, and Iain Snee.- 8 In and Out of the Laboratory: Herzberg, Job Satisfaction and the Attitudes of Finnish University Academics. Timo Aarrevaara and Ian R Dobson.- 9 A Portrait of the Changing Academic Profession in the Netherlands. Harry van der Kaap and Egbert de Weert.- 10 Academics Professional Characteristics and Trajectories: The Portuguese Case. Rui Santiago, Teresa Carvalho, Sofia Branco Sousa, Diana Dias, and Maria de Lourdes Machado-Taylor.- 11 Academic Inbreeding of Korean Professors: Academic Training, Networks, and their Performance. Jung Cheol Shin, Jisun Jung, and Soo Jeung Lee.- Part III. Comparative Studies.- 12 Identity of Argentine Academics: International and Compared Perspective. Martín Aiello and Cristian Pérez-Centeno.- 13 How Do Personal Characteristics Influence Scholarly Productivity? A Comparative Study of Chinese and American Academic Professions. Zeng Lin and Hong Shen.- 14 Career and Self-Understanding of Academics in Germany in Comparative Perspective. Ester Ava Höhle and Ulrich Teichler.- 15 Changing Academic Career Trajectories and Identity/Commitment of Academics in Japan. Akira Arimoto.- 16 Academic Advancement and Gender: A Comparative Analysis. William K. Cummings and Olga Bain.- 17 Demographics, Career and Academic Self-Understanding: A Comparative View. Jesús F. Galaz-Fontes, Akira Arimoto, Ulrich Teichler, and John Brennan.- Appendix: A Bibliography of Publications of the Project The Changing Academic Profession (CAP) and Related Projects. Compiled by Ester Ava Höhle and Ulrich Teichler