The Changing Paths in Academic Careers in European Universities: Minor Steps and Major Milestones (CPP RPS 50/2013)

Abstract

The academic career in Europe used to be much more unstructured and much less competitive than today. Currently, as reflected in interviews carried out throughout Europe, “each step in a career is competitive“ (CH_18-MAN), from doctoral and postdoctoral to junior academic and senior academic positions. There are significant variations across the European countries studied regarding the level of competition, often different in different places occupied in the academic hierarchy. But increasing competition has come to the academic profession and is bound to stay: the competition for part-time and full-time academic positions, for research grants and research funding, and tokens of academic prestige.