A Portrait of the Changing Academic Profession in the Netherlands

Abstract

This chapter describes, based on the Netherlands’ CAP (Changing Academic Profession) survey, the personal backgrounds, attitudes toward careers and career trajectories, the views on scholarship and job satisfaction of academics in Netherlands. The survey considered a representative sample of the staff in all academic ranks that were involved in teaching and/or research tasks at (research) universities and at Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS). According to the survey results the proportion of female academics has increased, along with the acceptance of English as the common language in the academia. Traditional tasks and academic values have survived major policy reforms, contributing to maintain satisfaction levels. Compared to their international colleagues, Dutch academics stand out on various aspects of the profession such as the strong notion of scholarship focused on original and basic research.