Biographies and Careers throughout Academic Life (The Changing Academy – The Changing Academic Profession in International Comparative Perspective, 16)

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 general and, 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. 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 general and, 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 Front Matter....Pages i-xix Biographies and Careers Throughout Academic Life: Introductory Comments....Pages 1-7 Front Matter....Pages 9-9 Identity Features and Working Conditions of Argentine Academics: A Comparative Study of Two Disciplinary Communities....Pages 11-29 Brazilian Higher Education: Converging Trajectory Patterns in a Diverse Institutional Environment....Pages 31-45 Personal Characteristics, Career Trajectory and Job Satisfaction of Academics in Malaysia....Pages 47-65 The Mexican Academic Profession Between Centuries: Who are the Actors?....Pages 67-87 The South African Academic Profession: Personal Characteristics, Career Trajectories, Identities and Sense of Commitment....Pages 89-102 Front Matter....Pages 103-103 The Changing Academic Profession in Canada: Personal Characteristics, Career Trajectories, Sense of Identity/Commitment and Job Satisfaction....Pages 105-120 In and Out of the Laboratory: Herzberg, Job Satisfaction and the Attitudes of Finnish University Academics....Pages 121-141 A Portrait of the Changing Academic Profession in the Netherlands....Pages 143-163 Academics’ Professional Characteristics and Trajectories: The Portuguese Case....Pages 165-186 Academic Inbreeding of Korean Professors: Academic Training, Networks, and their Performance....Pages 187-206 Front Matter....Pages 207-207 Identity of Argentine Academics: International and Compared Perspective....Pages 209-229 How Do Personal Characteristics Influence Scholarly Productivity? A Comparative Study of Chinese and American Academic Professions....Pages 231-240 Career and Self-Understanding of Academics in Germany in Comparative Perspective....Pages 241-269 Changing Academic Career Trajectories and Identity/Commitment of Academics in Japan....Pages 271-296 Academic Advancement and Gender: A Comparative Analysis....Pages 297-316 Demographics, Career and Academic Self-Understanding: A Comparative View....Pages 317-340 Back Matter....Pages 341-392 This text 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