Higher Education Faculty Characteristics and Trends in the United States and Europe

Abstract

The characteristics of higher education faculty described in the literature include gender, disciplinary affiliation, institutional affiliation, type of contract, and rank. This bibliography will focus on the literature characterizing the faculty in these categories. Specific attention will be paid to the faculty situation in the United States and in Europe, including country cases within Europe. The concentration on the United States and Europe provides interesting insights, as the characteristics of faculty are influenced by the higher education governance model in place. On both sides of the Atlantic, the governance arrangements and working conditions differ to some extent, and this determines the types of faculty positions and their characteristics. In the United States the higher education system is characterized by a departmental model, whereas in most European countries a chair model can be observed in academia. Both employment contracts and the division of labor are influenced by the higher education governance system in place. Faculty employment contracts can take various forms and be permanent or temporary. In the US system, tenure-track faculty positions have been common, where tenure is achieved based on performance within the same institution. In European systems traditionally, faculty and especially professors have been civil servants and had to win an open competition to get the position. Further, variations of contracts appear, as faculty can either have a part-time or full-time position. Faculty are involved in teaching and research, and more recently in service and knowledge commercialization. These employment contracts and faculty activities have changed over time due to changes in higher education governance systems, including the increasing massification, marketization, and privatization of higher education. Studying higher education faculty change over time, we observe a number of trends. An increasing percentage of faculty in the United States are on non-tenure-track appointments with teaching-only responsibilities. In Europe, precarious faculty positions are also on the rise across a number of higher education systems. Overall, a diversification of faculty roles and activities, as well as intensification of work, can be observed.