How Does National Context Shape Academic Work and Careers? The Prospects for Some Empirical Answers

Abstract

The 2007–2008 Changing Academic Profession provides a wealth of data on the work activities and careers of academics in 19 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas (North and South). In making sense of the data and the story (or stories) that they tell about the “global” academic profession, it is important to understand that historically the very essence of the academic profession (who they are, what they do and where they do it, what kinds of careers they pursue) has differed markedly across countries. It is critical to have a basic understanding of those differences as a means to “correctly” interpret similarities and differences in the data across. This chapter identifies at least three (four) models or prototypes of the academic profession—the Latin American model, the Continental European (French and German) model, the North American (US and Canadian) model, and various “hybrid” models—exploring how these differ in terms of institutional work setting, type of work activities, career anchors and mobility, and demographic profile. The chapter concludes by addressing the question: To what extent, and in what ways, is globalization muting (or accentuating) these historic differences?