INVITED ARTICLE - THEMED ISSUE
Social stratification in Higher Education: What it means at the micro-level of the individual academic scientist
Marek Kwiek,
Marek Kwiek
UNESCO Chair in Institutional Research and Higher Education Policy, Center for Public Policy Studies, University of Poznan, Poznan, Poland
Search for more papers by this authorMarek Kwiek,
Marek Kwiek
UNESCO Chair in Institutional Research and Higher Education Policy, Center for Public Policy Studies, University of Poznan, Poznan, Poland
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
enThe academic profession is internally divided as never before. This cross-national comparative analysis of stratification in Higher Education is based on a sample of European academic scientists (N = 8,466) from universities in 11 countries. The analysis identifies three types of stratification: academic performance stratification, academic salary stratification, and international research stratification. This emergent stratification of the global scientific community is predominantly research-based, and internationalisation in research is at its centre; prestige-driven, internationally competitive, and central to academic recognition systems, research is the single most stratifying factor in Higher Education at the level of the individual scientist today. These stratification processes pull the various segments of the academic profession in different directions. The study analyses highly productive academics (‘research top performers’), highly paid academics (‘academic top earners’), and highly internationalised academics (‘research internationalists’) and explores the implications for individual scientists.
Abstrait
frLa profession académique est divisée en interne comme jamais auparavant. Cette analyse comparative transnationale de la stratification dans l'enseignement supérieur repose sur un échantillon de scientifiques universitaires européens (N = 8 466) issus d'universités de 11 pays. L’analyse identifie trois types de stratification: la «stratification de la performance académique», la «stratification de la rémunération académique» et la «stratification de la recherche internationale». Cette stratification émergente de la communauté scientifique mondiale est principalement basée sur la recherche et l’internationalisation de la recherche est au centre de celle-ci; axée sur le prestige, compétitive sur le plan international et au cœur des systèmes de reconnaissance académique, la recherche est le facteur le plus déterminant dans l’enseignement supérieur au niveau de chaque chercheur. Ces processus de stratification entraînent les différents segments de la profession universitaire dans différentes directions. L’étude analyse les universitaires hautement productifs («chercheurs les plus performants»), les universitaires bien rémunérés («chercheurs hautement rémunérés») et les universitaires hautement internationalisés («chercheurs internationalistes») et explore les implications pour les scientifiques.
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