CAREERS OF THE PROFESSORIATE : academic pathways of the linguistics and sociologists in germany, france and the uk

This book examines career patterns of the professoriate. Professors may appear as specialised individualists in their fields, and yet they follow pathways which are anything but unique. Drawing from a unique data set, the authors analyse the trajectories of the almost 2000 linguists and sociologists who hold full professorships in Germany, France and the UK in 2015. With a background in social theory, they reveal models, structures and rules that organise the professional lives and biographies of the most senior academics. This book presents the results of a systematic empirical study, which will be of interest to specialists in higher education studies as well as to linguists and sociologists, and to all academics more generally. Johannes Angermuller is Professor in the School of Languages and Applied Linguistics at the Open University, UK. Philippe Blanchard is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Warwick, UK Acknowledgements Contents List of Graphs List of Tables Chapter 1: Introduction: Studying the Professoriate References Chapter 2: A Process Perspective on the Professoriate References Chapter 3: Existing Research on Academic Careers The Market, the Organisation, and the Actors Towards a Standard Career? References Chapter 4: Professors in Germany, France, United Kingdom Higher Education in Transnational Perspective The United Kingdom: A Liberal Bureaucracy France: A National Status Oligarchy Germany: A Federation of Autonomous Entrepreneurs References Chapter 5: Two Disciplines: Linguistics and Sociology The Disciplinary Organisation of Academic Knowledge and Institutions Linguistics Sociology References Chapter 6: Three Concepts for the Analysis of Professorial Careers References Chapter 7: Working with Online Biographical Data in Research on Academic Careers References Chapter 8: Speed: How Fast Do Professors Reach Their Position? The Weight of National Academic Systems Mobility and Age as Career Boosters Mobilities Have Different Effects in Different Systems Emergence of the Modern Academic References Chapter 9: Mobility: Moving Between Statuses, Institutions and Countries Fast and Slow Biographical Time How Female Professors Fit into Standardised Patterns of Mobility International Recruitments Mobility and Speed: How to Move at the Right Moments References Chapter 10: Pathways: Three Career Models Exploring Trajectories A Typology of Academic Pathways References Chapter 11: Conclusion: Academic Careers between Competition and Conformation References Appendix A Appendix B References Index A professorship is a career goal for many academics. Yet little is known about who becomes a professor and how. We propose an empirical, socio-historical study of the professoriate as a group that comprises all professors of linguistics and sociology in Germany, France and the United Kingdom. Drawing on online biographical presentations, our study responds to a demand for a systematic investigation of how professorial careers are constructed over time.