Describes structural changes in the Italian system of higher education that have forced a number of academic staff members to adjust to changes in their working conditions. These changes are in response to unmet social demands for higher education. Examines some alternatives related to their professional condition that Italian professors should…

More than one-third of American academics perform consulting services for fees. Desirability and effects of consulting are discussed by analyzing data from a sample survey to determine types of consulting and characteristics of consultants. Most are graduate teachers who have published more and are younger and higher in rank than their colleagues.…

Analyzes the ongoing debates and changes in the German system of academic appointments on the basis of an examination of the origins and overall function of the academic career system. Suggests that the recruitment, promotion, and appointment of academic staff are important issues in countries like Germany, where they shape the institutional…

Describes the position of academic staff at universities and other higher education institutions in France, where they occupy a place between other professions and the civil service. As the system evolves toward increased self-governance of institutions of higher education, the faculty is seen by administrators as an obstacle to the development of…

Describes changes in the academic professions in the Netherlands that have resulted from a shift toward a private sector model and changes in the management of teaching and research. Universities are increasingly able to employ and manage their own staffs. Describes some methods that allow for flexibility in appointments and for differences in…

Describes some key policy dilemmas and challenges taking place in the U.S. academic profession. These issues derive from a complex array of demographic, economic, social, and technological developments that have caused major shifts in the areas of assessment and accountability, governance, power, faculty roles, and recruitment patterns. (SLD)

The background of Ph.D.s is tabulated to show the loss to the stock of university manpower of non-academic but educationally valuable experience through growing competition for jobs by Ph.D.s. The conclusion is that forces causing the Ph.D. displacement of labour in the university academic labour market should be constrained. (Editor/JT)

Describes the impact of mass higher education and increasing financial stringency on the academic profession in Britain, where the profession has become fragmented and salary levels have fallen comparably. Suggests that the academic profession has failed to adapt to changes and that continued adherence to a common salary scale represents a…

Describes the end of a dynamic period in higher education in Spain that has resulted in reasonable working conditions for tenured staff with civil servant status. Recruitment and promotion procedures are coming under scrutiny, and the situation of nontenured staff is less positive. (Author/SLD)

Describes recent changes in national legal agreements concerning appointment, promotion, and working conditions that have affected the work of academics in Swedish higher education. Uses the current structure of the higher education system and data on working conditions and institutional governance as a context for a discussion of academic…

Seventy-four U.S. male academic social scientists provided career stage data that were analyzed and compared. The active publishers had a less varied career but continued their research beyond retirement. The moderately active and inactive publishers began careers with teaching and administration and reported sharper separation at retirement.…

A study of the perceptions of female full professors in Israeli universities found that while they do not feel discriminated against during their careers, they are aware of different career patterns of the sexes in academia and attribute those differences to objective conditions and women's decisions. (Author/MSE)

Aspects dealt with in this overview include: characteristics of the professoriate; recruitment and selection; salaries and fringe benefits; rank, promotion, and tenure; teaching, research, and community service; professorial associations; and the professoriate and politics. (Editor/LBH)

A study found that law school deans and faculty had different perceptions of the deans' leader behavior, and that faculty age, sex, academic rank, formal education, and teaching experience accounted for these discrepancies in perception. (Author/MSE)

Faculty definitions of merit are analyzed through 417 recommendations for merit salary awards. The effects of the recommendation writer's academic characteristics on the case made were examined, and it was found that definitions of merit varied by academic discipline and rank, and teaching was generally less valued than research or service. (MSE)