The Argentine Professorate: Occupational Insecurity and Political Interference

Abstract

IN A RECENT STUDY of the Argentine professorate, professors, whether fullor parttime, foreignor locally trained, repeatedly expressed concern with their job security in the university regardless of their discipline affiliation.' Almost consistently, authoritarian regimes (common phenomena in Argentina) have attacked the sovereignty and autonomy of the universities. Professors in all the national universities have seen their positions and careers threatened with each change of government. Many report watching the political scene carefully, fearful that another change may bring about still another attack on the universities. In the present university climate in Argentina, the professor works at a disadvantage with the pervasive fear of losing his job. Insecurity in the university is heightened, moreover, by an ineffective tenure system, by the common practice of inbreeding, by the low incidence of geographical mobility of Argentine professors, and by limited numbers of available full-time positions throughout the university system. This article attempts to treat the sensitive issue of occupational insecurity in the Argentine university system and to suggest its effect on the future development of the academic community in Argentina.