Abstract
The recent changes taking place in the European higher education systems leads to less stable, less secure and less attractive working conditions for academic teachers. Nonetheless, it is observed that the academic profession is attractive for young talented people. The research was aimed at studying educational biographies of engineers who took up PhD studies at technical universities in order to find out the importance of young people’s experience and life history in making important life decisions (i.e. starting academic career). The biographical research was performed based on the material of lifelines and autobiographic essays prepared by PhD students of technical universities in Poland and Ukraine. The study included 56 participants of 23 to 30 years of age. A typology of biographical narratives was developed as a result of analysis of the research material. Additionally, the crucial similarities and differences between educational biographies of PhD students from Poland and from Ukraine were indicated. On the basis of the research it can be determined that traditional motives of undertaking the academic profession – i.e. curiosity, professional status, and financial rewards – still play a big role. New motives are also appearing: investing oneself and social mission. An academic profession is seen as a possibility of development and autonomy to a greater extent than in the economic sector. However, the lack of guarantee of employment at the university after PhD studies and lower remuneration in academic structures compared to the economic sector make it difficult to plan one's own future and choose academic career instead of a different career path.
Highlights
The significant transformations in higher education systems in European countries visible during the last half-century have changed the academic profession (Fumasoli, Goastellec & Kehm, 2015)
By means of the analysis of the lifeline and the autobiographical essays of the PhD students, key categories have been recognised in educational biographies, which were most meaningful to respondents in the context of their learning, development, and the decision to start PhD studies
The following differences have been observed in the educational biographies of young adepts of science: the relationship of global events with education and development are present only in narratives of doctoral students in Ukraine, greater saturation with events unrelated to formal education in narratives and lifelines of PhD students in Poland, proposal to start a scientific career is much more frequent in the narratives of the Poles, a higher degree of anxiety regarding their future and a floating (Bron, 2000) in the biographies of the Poles
Summary
The significant transformations in higher education systems in European countries visible during the last half-century have changed the academic profession (Fumasoli, Goastellec & Kehm, 2015). Massification of academic education that involves consequences in terms of the quality of education, change in the relations between students and academic staff, depreciation of diplomas, as well as restrictions on research funding, escalation of competition between scientific centres and researchers for external funding of research, the necessity of establishing cooperation between universities and employers are just a few examples of changes taking place in the European higher education systems. These transformations utterly crumble the academic status quo, while altering the condition of the academic staff and its prospects for the future.
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