The boundaries between universities of applied sciences and universities in the binary higher education system in Germany have begun to blur. This is likely to affect the criteria for hiring professors, too. The article investigates whether or not there is a similarity of the relative weight universities of applied sciences and universities put on…

Excellence has become a 'hoorah' word which is widely used in higher education institutions to legitimate practices related to the recruitment/progression of staff. It can be seen as reflecting an institutionalised belief that such evaluative processes are unaffected by the social characteristics of those who work in them or their relationships…

As previous research has not addressed the relationship between university autonomy and university rankings within countries where the state control model is used, this study explores universities' strategies to achieve top university rankings in accordance with their autonomous rights and financial as well as political support. Specifically, this…

Internationalisation is a cross-cutting theme in the strategic plans of many universities, and an increased international profile is a core goal for many cities. At the same time, even the leaders of some of Europe's most avowedly outward-facing, 'global' universities have begun to prioritise relations with their city counterparts in recent years.…

By analysing institutional changes of administrative leadership at German universities, this paper studies the construction of organizational boundaries as an important aspect of organizational transformation of universities as complete organizations. Building on an analysis of the formal status of administrative leadership at universities derived…

The number of dual career couples in academia is growing due to the increasing proportion of women with a doctoral degree and the greater propensity of women to choose another academic as their partner. At the same time, international mobility is required for career advancement in academia, creating challenges for dual career couples where both…