The word “tenure” is usually associated in universities with job security and professional autonomy. It is a term familiar in North America, where the notion of a “job-for-life“ for professors who achieve ”tenure” has come under pressure in recent years, most recently in a legal case in Wisconsin. But across Europe there are a variety of different employment tracks through which academics can reach professor level.
I have had the pleasure of working as an academic in three European countries – Germany, The Netherlands, and the UK – each of which highlights some of the alternative options to the tenure-track model in the US.
Germany – A Two-class System
In the 1990s, I began my academic career in Germany – a country well-known for its strong welfare state tradition and labour protection. In universities things were and still are different. Academics are basically divided into two classes. On the one hand, professors are employed as civil servants of the state and hold tenure as a highly safeguarded employment for life. On the other, there is a much bigger group of “junior staff” on fixed-term contracts, research grants, fellowships, and part-time jobs. In 2010, 9% of academic staff were professors, 66% were “junior staff” (including doctoral candidates on contracts), and 25% were other academic staff in secondary employment.
