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1 – 10 of 14Marian Thunnissen and Paul Boselie
Talent management in higher education institutes is an underexplored topic. Only a small portion of talent management publications is focussed on describing talent management in…
Abstract
Talent management in higher education institutes is an underexplored topic. Only a small portion of talent management publications is focussed on describing talent management in higher education institutes. In this chapter, we give an overview of the most important topics in the talent management literature in general and link it to what is known about these issues in higher education. It discusses the definition of talent and talent management, the talent management process and the multilevel outcomes of talent management, the fairness and justice issues related to talent management and the importance of embedding the analysis of talent management in its broader organizational and institutional context. In the final part of this introduction chapter, we will explain how the talent management topics are discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book.
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This chapter is focussed on the macro context of higher education and describes the historical developments in higher education and how these developments affect academic jobs and…
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This chapter is focussed on the macro context of higher education and describes the historical developments in higher education and how these developments affect academic jobs and academic work. When we sketch the development of higher education with a few broad strokes of the pen, we see (1) a development from a small-scale elite institution to broad training (and research) institutes; (2) a struggle over control of higher education; and (3) a movement in which higher education is professionalized and increasingly assigned a societal task, with a series of consequences for education, research and impact. These developments contribute to a field of tension in which old traditions of academic behaviour must be reconciled with demands that are placed on higher education by society. This makes talent management, both on an individual and collective level, no easy task.
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Christine Teelken, Inge van der Weijden and Stefan Heusinkveld
Although an increasing number of PhD holders will continue their careers outside academia, we know little about their further career prospects. To develop a better understanding…
Abstract
Although an increasing number of PhD holders will continue their careers outside academia, we know little about their further career prospects. To develop a better understanding of how this group constructs and justifies a successful career outside academia, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 47 PhD graduates from different disciplines (humanities, social and beta sciences) who have obtained elaborate experience working outside academia.
Drawing on a multi-career perspective, we explored the motivations of the PhD holders when making such career transitions. The findings from the interviews demonstrated how PhD holders’ main motivations were associated with their perceived organizational, community and cognitive careers. Our data analysis revealed that these motivations related to PhD holders and can be grouped along four key tensions:
distanced from real life (academia) versus appreciating the practical impact of their research (currently);
competition and performance orientation (academia) versus enjoying their current multidisciplinary collaboration towards a common goal (current);
Individualism and loneliness were typically experienced in academia versus autonomy and intellectual stimulation in their current work; and
lack of stable career perspectives in academia versus current options for competence-based development and personal growth.
distanced from real life (academia) versus appreciating the practical impact of their research (currently);
competition and performance orientation (academia) versus enjoying their current multidisciplinary collaboration towards a common goal (current);
Individualism and loneliness were typically experienced in academia versus autonomy and intellectual stimulation in their current work; and
lack of stable career perspectives in academia versus current options for competence-based development and personal growth.
Thus, while discontinuation of an academic career may easily hold a pejorative connotation, the analysis of the PhD holders’ motivations revealed important and rewarding opportunities in pursuing a career in other sectors. Overall, from our study, we can conclude that while a major gap may exist between careers in academia and ‘the corporate world’, shifting careers between these worlds is not as ‘unthinkable’ as commonly believed.
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