Academic career paths in Europe are heterogeneous, and the chances for early career researchers to become a permanent member of the academic profession differ from country to country. In some countries, the employment prospects are very insecure. It is asked whether contract conditions at universities influence the chance of taking over a mature role in management functions in the scientific community in Germany, the Netherlands and Norway. The concept of Laudel and Gläser about the organizational career and the community career is operationalized with comparative survey data. The analysis shows certain common predictors for all countries: academics not holding a PhD degree, as well as those spending the majority of time for teaching, have lower chances to perform management functions in the scientific community. Still, every country shows a different composition of predictors.