The academic professoriate is a determinant of successful higher education systems. Yet, recently, worsening conditions of employment, deteriorating salaries, and threats to job security have made the academic profession less attractive, especially to young scholars, in several countries. This paper investigates the salaries as well as the…

This report aims to provide insight into the realities faced by higher education academic staff at a time of fast-moving change and increasing societal demand. Fluctuating student numbers, new funding and steering mechanisms are among the features of today's European higher education landscape, but not enough is known about how academic staff are…

This paper suggests that as university missions have adapted to accommodate major developments associated with, for instance, mass higher education and internationalisation agendas, university workforces have diversified. They now, for instance, incorporate practitioners in areas such as health and social care, and professional staff who support…

Describes the position of academic staff at universities and other higher education institutions in France, where they occupy a place between other professions and the civil service. As the system evolves toward increased self-governance of institutions of higher education, the faculty is seen by administrators as an obstacle to the development of…

Examines the history of France's preservice teacher education, from separate primary and secondary training through the single new institution, the "Institut Universitaire de Formation des Maitres." The process of transition to this new institute has been difficult, largely due to powerful resistance shown by university and secondary…

Presents a critical analysis of the reform of French preservice teacher education since 1990; in particular examining the difficulty of introducing change and noting how clearly defined political decisions can be diluted in the implementation stage by various stakeholders. Examines the creation and organization of new teacher training institutes,…