Modernisation of Higher Education in Europe: Academic Staff 2017 Eurydice Report Education and Training This document is published by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA, Education and Youth Policy Analysis). Please cite this publication as: European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2017. Modernisation of Higher Education in Europe: Academic Staff – 2017. Eurydice Report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Printed version EC-01-17-491-EN-C ISBN 978-92-9492-508-4 doi:10.2797/9642 PDF EC-01-17-491-EN-N ISBN 978-92-9492-510-7 doi: 10.2797/408169 EPUB EC-01-17-491-EN-E ISBN 978-92-9492-507-7 doi: 10.2797/6688 Text completed in June 2017. © Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, 2017. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged. Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency Education and Youth Policy Analysis Avenue du Bourget 1 (J-70 – Unit A7) BE-1049 Brussels Tel. +32 2 299 50 58 Fax +32 2 292 19 71 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://ec.europa.eu/eurydice CONTENTS Table of Figures 5 Introduction 13 Codes 7 Main Findings 9 Chapter 1: Academic Staff in a Changing Higher Education Landscape 17 1.1. Understanding academic staff 17 1.2. Governance and human resource planning 24 Conclusions 27 Chapter 2: Academics and their Qualifications 29 2.1. Doctoral degree: a starting point of an academic career? 29 2.2. Qualification requirements within academic careers 37 Conclusions 41 Chapter 3: The Recruitment of Academic Staff 43 3.1. Top-level authorities' legislation on recruitment of academic staff 44 3.2. Recruitment methods 47 3.3. Recruitment process 50 3.4. Equal opportunities 51 3.5. Recruitment management 57 Conclusions 59 Chapter 4: Employment and Working Conditions in Academia 61 4.1. Employment conditions in academia 61 4.2. Duties and working time of academic staff 68 4.3. Remuneration of academic staff 73 4.4. Continuing professional development (CPD) of academic staff 77 4.5. Monitoring of employment and working conditions in academia 81 Conclusions 83 Chapter 5: Quality Assurance and Evaluation of Academic Staff 85 5.1. The European context for quality assurance 85 5.2. External quality assurance 86 5.3. Individual evaluation of academic staff 91 Conclusions 95 Chapter 6: Internationalisation and Staff Mobility 97 6.1. Top-level strategies for the internationalisation of higher education 98 6.2. Top-level monitoring of staff mobility 103 6.3. Top-level support for specific actions related to internationalisation 105 Conclusions 107 3 Modernisation of Higher Education in Europe: Academic Staff – 2017 Annexes 109 Annex 1: National diagrams of academic staff categories 109 Sources of statistical data included in national diagrams 147 Annex 2: Examples of large-scale programmes for academic staff mobility 151 References 159 Glossary 163 Acknowledgements 167 4 TABLE OF FIGURES Chapter 1: Academic Staff in a Changing Higher Education Landscape 17 Figure 1.1: Enrolment rates in tertiary education for 18-34-year-olds (% of the population aged 18-34), 2000 and 2015 18 Figure 1.2: Percentage change in the total number of students enrolled in tertiary education between 2000 and 2015 19 Figure 1.3: Percentage change in the total number of academic staff between 2000 and 2015 20 Figure 1.4: Academic staff by age groups (%), 2015 22 Figure 1.5: Female academic staff (%), 2000 and 2015 23 Figure 1.6: Professors among academic staff (%), 2013 24 Figure 1.7: Existence of top-level authority mid/long-term strategy on human resources planning in higher education, 2015/16 26 Chapter 2: Academics and their Qualifications 29 Figure 2.1: Primary legal status of doctoral candidates, 2015/16 30 Figure 2.2: Doctoral degree as a legal requirement for accessing certain academic staff categories, 2015/16 33 Figure 2.3: Postdoctoral qualification as a legal prerequisite for accessing certain academic staff categories, 2015/16 38 Chapter 3: The Recruitment of Academic Staff 43 Figure 3.1: Scope and coverage of top-level authority legislation on recruitment of academic staff, 2015/16 44 Figure 3.2: Existence of top-level authority requirements to make vacancies public, 2015/16 48 Figure 3.3: Existence of top-level authority regulations in selected aspects of academic staff recruitment, 2015/16 50 Figure 3.4: Existence of top-level authority regulations on equal opportunities affecting recruitment of academic staff, 2015/16 52 Figure 3.5: Share of women among total academic staff and professors, 2013 54 Figure 3.6: Existence of wide policy measures or initiatives aimed at preventing or limiting gender differences in academic ranks, 2015/16 55 Figure 3.7: Involvement of the top-level authority in the recruitment process, 2015/16 58 Chapter 4: Employment and Working Conditions in Academia 61 Figure 4.1: Employment contracts in academia, 2015/16 62 Figure 4.2: Employment contracts of university professors, 2015/16 64 Figure 4.3: Existence of civil servant status for academic staff, 2015/16 66 Figure 4.4: Top-level regulations on the minimum time academics should allocate to different activities, 2015/16 69 Figure 4.5: Academic staff working part-time as % of all academic staff, 2015 72 Figure 4.6: Top-level regulations on the remuneration of academic staff, 2015/16 74 Figure 4.7: Top-level regulations on sabbatical leave for academic staff, 2015/16 79 Figure 4.8: Top-level monitoring of employment and working conditions of academic staff, 2015/16 82 5 Modernisation of Higher Education in Europe: Academic Staff – 2017 Chapter 5: Quality Assurance and Evaluation of Academic Staff 85 Figure 5.1: Issues typically covered by the external quality assurance evaluation, 2015/16 89 Figure 5.2: Stakeholders involved in the elaboration of evaluation criteria for external quality assurance, 2015/16 90 Figure 5.3: Stakeholders typically involved in establishing criteria and performance levels for appraisals of academic staff, 2015/16 92 Figure 5.4: Existence of steering documents guiding higher education institutions on the use of evaluation results, 2015/16 93 Chapter 6: Internationalisation and Staff Mobility 97 Figure 6.1: Existence of top-level strategy for internationalisation in higher education, 2015/16 98 Figure 6.2: Content of internationalisation strategies at top level (selected areas), 2015/16 101 Figure 6.3: Share of foreign citizens among academic staff, 2013 103 Figure 6.4: Top-level monitoring of mobility of academic staff, 2015/16 104 Figure 6.5: Top-level measures to encourage academic staff to participate in specific actions related to internationalisation, 2015/16 105 6 CODES Country codes EU/EU-28 European Union NL Netherlands BE Belgium AT Austria BE fr Belgium – French Community PL Poland BE de Belgium – German-speaking Community PT Portugal BE nl Belgium – Flemish Community RO Romania BG Bulgaria SI Slovenia CZ Czech Republic SK Slovakia DK Denmark FI Finland DE Germany SE Sweden EE Estonia UK United Kingdom IE Ireland UK-ENG England EL Greece UK-WLS Wales ES Spain UK-NIR Northern Ireland FR France UK-SCT Scotland HR Croatia EFTA/EEA and candidate countries IT Italy BA Bosnia and Herzegovina CY Cyprus CH Switzerland LV Latvia IS Iceland LT Lithuania ME Montenegro LU Luxembourg NO Norway HU Hungary RS Serbia MT Malta TR Turkey Statistical codes : Data not available (–) Not applicable 7 MAIN FINDINGS This report aims to provide insight into the realities faced by higher education academic staff at a time of fast-moving change and increasing societal demand. Fluctuating student numbers, new funding and steering mechanisms are among the features of today's European higher education landscape, but not enough is known about how academic staff are affected by such changes. As academic staff are vital for the success of higher education, this report places them centre stage. The report is divided into six chapters. An introductory chapter provides contextual information on the higher education environment. Subsequent chapters examine the qualification requirements for academic staff, the recruitment process, employment and working conditions in academia, external quality assurance procedures, and top-level strategies for internationalisation. The report also includes national diagrams showing key characteristics of academic staff categories. The report draws on several data sources. It is based mainly on qualitative data gathered from the Eurydice National Units. This has been complemented by a range of research reports, as well as by reports and databases produced by international organisations. Information has also been collected through surveys to academic staff trade unions and quality assurance agencies. Alongside qualitative information, some chapters also include statistical data from international surveys and databases. These main findings highlight key issues for consideration by policy makers. Academic staff are a heterogeneous group in European higher education The degree of difference in academic staff categories from one country to another is a striking feature of the European higher education landscape. The national diagrams annexed to this report, while aiming to make national categories comparable, also reveal a wide range of distinctions and national variations (see Annex 1). Academic staff can be differentiated by a number of features: their main activities (teaching and research; teaching only or research only), the type of institution in which they work (university of other higher education institution), their contractual status (indefinite or fixed-term contracts) as well as their integration or not within a clearly defined career path (see Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and Annex 1). Higher education institutions are generally responsible for their human resource policies, but some aspects are usually subject to top-level regulations Top-level authorities rarely develop mid or long-term national strategies for human resource planning in higher education. Most countries have delegated this responsibility to higher education institutions themselves.