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1 – 10 of over 55000I historically compare changes in institutional frameworks creating academic positions linked to temporary employment by analyzing university employment statistics in Chile…
Abstract
I historically compare changes in institutional frameworks creating academic positions linked to temporary employment by analyzing university employment statistics in Chile, Colombia, Germany, and the USA. I find that temporary academic positions were institutionalized through the creation of previously inexistent academic categories called a contrata in Chile, de cátedra in Colombia, “junior professor” without tenure in Germany and “postdoc” in the USA; used in higher education and employment laws since 1989, 1992, 2002, and 1974, respectively. Under institutional frameworks demanding the maximization of students and research, universities have increasingly contracted academics through temporary contracts under rationales that differ between regions. In Colombia and Chile, public university leaders and owners of private universities contract such teaching positions to expand student numbers through lowering costs. In Germany and the USA, employment insecurity is mostly driven by temporary scientific positions under a main rationale of scientific expansion. The share of temporary positions has increased exponentially in Colombia and Germany in recent decades, whereas in the USA there has only been an increase since 2012. Moreover, in Chile, the share of permanent positions has decreased since 2012. The common trend is one of isomorphism of vertical academic structures sharing a pyramidal form, with a wide base of academics working under conditions of contractual insecurity. Such trends follow a rationale for maximization of student numbers as well as administration, and scientific production that is in tension with prioritizing wellbeing and improvement of academics’ working conditions. Yet, in these environments, the institution of tenure in the USA and recent Chilean regulations on accreditation represent mechanisms counteracting precarious employment.
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Liliane Bonnal, Pascal Favard and Kady Marie-Danielle Sorho-Body
This paper is the first of its kind to look at first-year undergraduates in France. The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of holding down a job on the probability of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper is the first of its kind to look at first-year undergraduates in France. The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of holding down a job on the probability of students dropping out of higher education or passing their first year.
Design/methodology/approach
Given the existence of relevant unobserved explanatory variables, probit models with two simultaneous equations have been estimated. The first equation will enable us to explain paid employment or working hours, and the second academic outcomes that allow for dropout.
Findings
The results show that being employed means students are more likely to drop out during their first year and less likely to pass. The latter finding is comparable with results for subsequent academic years although the impact is greater for first-year undergraduates. The more intensive the work, the greater the adverse effects of employment.
Originality/value
By refining the research, this negative impact of employment is not verified for all the student profiles. For some of them, e.g., those with honours at the secondary bachelor, employment does not harm their academic results.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the rate of change of men and women's employment as university academic staff in Australia and Japan; and, drawing on quantitative methods…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the rate of change of men and women's employment as university academic staff in Australia and Japan; and, drawing on quantitative methods, show differences in the rate of change since the introduction of anti-sex discrimination legislation. The author also includes a discussion of programmes designed to increase female participation in academic positions to provide background to the existing changes.
Design/methodology/approach
Using statistics published by the Ministries of Education of both countries, a time series of female participation at each level of academic staff was constructed. Breakpoint analysis is used to model the changes in the rate of change before and after the legislation was introduced.
Findings
Both Australia and Japan have seen an increase in female participation rates in academic employment at all levels since the introduction of anti-sex discrimination legislation. In addition, the rate of increase of female participation has increased at almost every level of academic staff in both countries between 1970 and 2010.
Originality value
Through setting out the changes in female participation at individual levels of academic staff in Japan and Australia, this study sets the stage for future qualitative work exploring why differences in the numbers of female and male staff continue. A further use is the provision of a clear data set for use in teaching and policy construction through showing the increases in female participation in academia between 1970 and 2010.
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Liang Zhang, Ronald Ehrenberg and Xiangmin Liu
We use panel data models to examine variations and changes in faculty employment at four-year colleges and universities in the United States. The share of part-time faculty among…
Abstract
We use panel data models to examine variations and changes in faculty employment at four-year colleges and universities in the United States. The share of part-time faculty among total faculty has continued to grow during the last two decades, while the share of full-time lecturers and instructors has been relatively stable. Meanwhile, the share of nontenure track faculty among full-time faculty has been growing, especially among the professorial ranks. Dynamic panel data models suggest that employment levels of different types of faculty respond to a variety of economic and institutional factors. Colleges and universities have increasingly employed faculty whose salaries and benefits are relatively inexpensive; the slowly deteriorating financial situations at most colleges and universities have led to an increasing reliance on a contingent academic workforce. A cross-sectional comparison of the share of full-time nontenure track faculty also reveals significant variations across institutions.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the library employment in UAE and explore the perceptions of academic librarians toward job satisfaction, employment opportunities…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the library employment in UAE and explore the perceptions of academic librarians toward job satisfaction, employment opportunities, employment challenges, and future actions needed to improve employment opportunities for librarians in UAE.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through an online survey questionnaire. A total of 62 academic librarians from public and private universities and colleges participated in the study. The collected data are analyzed to answer research questions and verify the hypotheses.
Findings
Respondents expressed high satisfaction with salary and benefits, job positions, responsibilities given to them, and appreciations from senior management. However, they are found unsatisfied with promotion policies and employment opportunity. They reported challenges for getting jobs and expressed concerns about the future of librarians in UAE. With the exception of experience, findings of the study show no significant difference of demographic factors on job satisfaction, the perceived employment opportunity, and challenges. Majority of participants believe that employment opportunity for librarians can be improved through IT courses, promotion policies, training, career structure, marketing, and changing school name. They agree that reducing the number of students will not improve employment opportunities for librarians.
Research limitations/implications
This is a descriptive study based on a survey questionnaire. Future studies may use qualitative methods such as the interview for more exploration and in-depth analysis.
Practical implications
The findings provide concerns about the future of librarianship in UAE and appeal to library educators, managers, and decision makers to improve employment opportunities for librarians.
Originality/value
The paper reports original research findings on job satisfaction, employment opportunities, employment challenges, and future actions as perceived by academic librarians in UAE.
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Heather A. Jacobson and Kristen S. Shuyler
This study aims to explore the positive and negative effects of working in an academic library, as reported by college students.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the positive and negative effects of working in an academic library, as reported by college students.
Design/methodology/approach
Through surveys and interviews, student workers shared their perceptions of how employment in a university library affects their academics, social life, engagement with campus life, professional skill development, and emotional/psychological states.
Findings
Results indicate that the library job is seen as a generally positive part of the students' college experience, particularly in the areas of skill development and academic performance. However, neutral, mixed, and negative effects exist as well.
Research limitations/implications
Findings may not be generalizable due to the limited number of participants and their employment in a single department. Future research could include students in other departments, libraries, or universities. This study employed a single survey and interview, capturing a snapshot of student perceptions. A more longitudinal approach could examine how the attitudes and perceptions of working students change over time as a result of their employment.
Practical implications
This study presents suggestions for how librarians, faculty, staff, and administrators can promote working students' academic success and professional development.
Originality/value
This paper contributes a new perspective to the current literature on the academic and social effects of library employment. By gathering student perceptions via surveys and interviews, this research provides one of the first analyses of the experiences of library student workers as shared in their own voices.
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Vincenzo Alfano, Giuseppe Gaeta and Mauro Pinto
This paper contributes to the empirical analysis of PhD holders' transition into the non-academic labor market (i.e. their intersectoral mobility). The research focuses on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper contributes to the empirical analysis of PhD holders' transition into the non-academic labor market (i.e. their intersectoral mobility). The research focuses on doctoral graduates specialized in a field of study supposed to have notable non-academic applications, namely Industrial and Information Engineering. We inspect whether these doctoral graduates experience lower satisfaction with PhD knowledge use on the job when they work outside universities and non-public research centers.
Design/methodology/approach
We use cross-sectional survey data collected by the Italian National Institute of Statistics in 2014. Ordinary least squares and ordered logit analyses provide baseline results; furthermore, we apply a multinomial endogenous treatment model to control for potential bias arising from self-selection into employment sectors.
Findings
We find evidence that for PhD holders Industrial and Information Engineering being employed in the industrial and services sector implies lower satisfaction with the use of doctoral knowledge than that reported by their counterparts working in universities or public research centers.
Originality/value
These results complement and extend previous evidence about PhD holders' career outcomes by focusing on the intersectoral mobility issue and on a specific group of doctoral graduates whose intersectoral mobility potential is expected to be high. Our findings call for policies that might trigger a better alignment between doctoral education and non-academic jobs.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine an aspect of the working lives of a group of Australian college of advanced education academic staff who worked at Bendigo College of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine an aspect of the working lives of a group of Australian college of advanced education academic staff who worked at Bendigo College of Advanced Education, one of Australia's oldest colleges, during the period 1965‐1982.
Design/methodology/approach
Using extended interviews that were conducted with academic staff in 1982 this paper examines these academic staff's perspectives on the influence of their own tertiary education and previous employment on their then academic roles.
Findings
The academic staff in this study reported that their previous employment was more important in carrying out their academic roles than were other factors such as their tertiary education. Interestingly, current Australian university students, according to university commissioned research, by one research intensive Australian university, also attach more importance to the prior industrial and work experiences of university lecturers as opposed to their research excellence and productivity.
Originality/value
Using the perspectives from these academic staff of almost 50 years ago, this paper questions the direction of current Australian higher education policies and practices with respect to university staffing and its directives and emphases. This paper provides an important insight into current academic careers and the tension in current academic roles as a result of current higher education policy and practice, by using these voices from the past.
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Paul Blyton, Edmund Heery and Peter Turnbull
Presents 35 abstracts from the 2001 Employment Research Unit Annual conference held at Cardiff Business School in September 2001. Attempts to explore the theme of changing…
Abstract
Presents 35 abstracts from the 2001 Employment Research Unit Annual conference held at Cardiff Business School in September 2001. Attempts to explore the theme of changing politics of employment relations beyond and within the nation state, against a background of concern in the developed economies at the erosion of relatively advanced conditions of work and social welfare through increasing competition and international agitation for more effective global labour standards. Divides this concept into two areas, addressing the erosion of employment standards through processes of restructuring and examining attempts by governments, trade unions and agencies to re‐create effective systems of regulation. Gives case examples from areas such as India, Wales, London, Ireland, South Africa, Europe and Japan. Covers subjects such as the Disability Discrimination Act, minimum wage, training, contract workers and managing change.
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An increasing number of doctoral graduates are seeking non-academic employment. While statistics have revealed multiple aspects regarding the non-academic employment they hold…
Abstract
Purpose
An increasing number of doctoral graduates are seeking non-academic employment. While statistics have revealed multiple aspects regarding the non-academic employment they hold, there is insufficient documentation of what has led them to leave academia and to what extent they are prepared for non-academic positions. This paper aims to address this gap and reports on five Chinese doctoral graduates’ reflections on their change in career choices.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is exploratory and follows the approach of qualitative multi-case studies. The data includes in-depth interviews with five Chinese doctoral graduates and their responses to a survey. The paper applies a theoretical perspective drawing from protean career and boundaryless career theories, focusing on the participants’ agency in managing career choices and their meaning making of career decision-making.
Findings
The study has found that, besides the factors mentioned in the literature, such as lack of academic positions, pressure related to academic work and lack of career planning, some participants were directed by their intrinsic values, and agency plays an important role in their career preparation.
Practical implications
The study makes recommendations on university career guidance for doctoral students.
Originality/value
This paper documents why and how doctoral students change their career choices, which have not been sufficiently documented in the literature. As well, the theoretical perspective used provides an innovative way to interpret doctoral students' career decision-making.
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