This paper analyzes policy discussion regarding key developments in the national organization of the Swedish academic career during the period 1955–2020. In the 1950s, the academic career was highly regulated and state-planned with a few exclusive academic positions. In 2020, it has become essentially deregulated with universities themselves establishing employment positions. Four key developments are identified: the emergence of parallel careers, the expansion of external research funding, the dramatic increase in professors, and the deregulation of national policy on academic careers. The national policy discussions underpinning these developments are analysed with the help of a theoretical framework for explaining different types of institutional change. The paper shows that changes to the Swedish academic career were undertaken gradually over time, mainly by the layering of new rules over or alongside existing ones as a supplement. In addition, the paper shows that some problems with the academic career have been discussed repeatedly and that even where solutions have been set out, the problems seem to persist.

Recently, a number of inbreeding cases have surfaced that have fuelled public criticism of recruitment practices and the lack of mobility in the Swedish higher education sector. This study focuses on recruitment practices at Swedish universities, particularly the divergence between what seems to be a practice of hiring internal candidates and a policy aiming at increasing mobility. The empirical material comprises 14 interviews with heads of departments at a selection of Swedish universities. Institutional logics are used as an analytical framework. It is found that academic recruitment is situated in a tangle of different practices and ideals comprising six logics: state, academic, managerial, market, community and family. Heads of departments show that recruitment practices are the result of several considerations where, for example, meritocracy, bureaucracy and loyalty do not always pull in the same direction. 

This study aims to contribute to the understanding of knowledge interactions, particularly personnel mobility, between university and industry. More specifically, this paper studies the appointment of senior industry practitioners as part-time visiting professors at universities, in the role of adjunct professors. The paper relies on qualitative data, documents and 29 interviews, all from two Swedish universities. The findings highlight a distinction between the approaches from top and local management. Top university management has institutionalised an established practice of appointing adjunct professors, but the appointments still rely on personal networks at local level. The paper also shows that benefits generally applied to university–industry engagement, such as learning, access to in-kind resources and access to funding, are applicable. Furthermore, two additional perceived benefits come to the fore. Firstly, adjunct professors are appointed to increase the visibility of the university, and secondly, they undertake an essential part of the workload in some environments.

Academic career systems have been in focus lately as a means to attract talented researchers and teachers. In this paper, we compare tenure tracks at three Swedish universities. The analysis relies on qualitative data, including interviews and policy documents, and revolves around three questions: How is the tenure track designed? What were the drivers behind the new tenure track? How is the tenure track designed to handle emerging tensions? We identify three common drivers and rationales: transparency, recruitment of early career researchers and long-term retention of staff. The article ends with a discussion of important considerations that were made when introducing the tenure track. The considerations derive from the tensions between research and teaching, between scope and funding and between the needs of the institution and the rights of the individual. The results are important in an increasingly competitive higher education sector aiming to construct and implement attractive career systems.

Introduction

The entire system of higher education has changed radically during the last decades. This includes for example both changes in the structure of funding as well as increased demands from the labour market. One strategy to adopt to the new conditions is to develop close ties to external organizations such as industry (Clark 1998; Slaughter and Leslie 1997). This paper investigates expectations on, and roles of, researchers from industry, affiliated part time at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). In this paper we call these researchers “affiliated faculty”. The questions are, what are the expectations from HEIs as well as from industry on the affiliated faculty? And how does this correspond to the role taken by these affiliated researchers?

Methodology

The paper is based on the results of documentary studies and interviews at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and Mälardalen University. In total 27 interviews, including affiliated professors and management from industry and HEI, are undertaken. From this material, a pattern has been distinguished through content analysis (Patton 2002).

Preliminary Results

The interviews reveal that high but divergent expectations are placed on the affiliated faculty. Affiliated faculty are expected to bring in new experiences and contacts from industry to enrich the university environment. However the process of affiliating a professor is described as very dependent on personal contacts. The affiliated faculty are also a way of promoting the university, making its research and its brand more visible outside academia. By contrast, industry has its primary focus on educational aspects. Industrial partners are, for example, interested in bringing concrete industrial problems that can be used as examples in teaching and learning. Affiliated professors themselves express that one of their missions is to identify the best students for future recruitment. From a personal perspective, the affiliated professors appreciate the possibility of having the time to go deeper into questions that they do not find time for in their ordinary jobs.

This is a part of a lager study investigating the strategy on researchers from industry affiliated part time as professors at Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). These researchers are here called “affiliated faculty”. The question to be answered in this presentation is: what are the roles of affiliated faculty at a HEIs?

The question raised in this paper is: what are the strategies and expectations on affiliated faculty from HEI management? The paper presents a comparative study between two Swedish HEIs both operating in the field of technology. 23 interviews, of which 11 with HEI management and 12 with affiliated professors, have been undertaken. Results show that the faculty is growing organically and less strategic than expected considering it being a high profile issue at both HEIs. Tensions are found, concerning for example mobility and the relation between affiliated and regular faculty. As well as on whether it is the company or the individual that is in focus. Results reveal that high but divergent expectations from different levels of management are placed on the affiliated faculty. The study has also shown how affiliated faculty can be used as a strategic tool in different phases of the development of a HEI.

The aim of this paper is to enhance our understanding of the changes in the Swedish academic career during the period 1955–2020. This is achieved by identifying and analyzing major policy changes. In the 1950s, the academic career was a highly regulated and state-planned system with a few exclusive academic positions. In 2020, it has become an essentially deregulated system supervised by the state, with universities themselves establishing employment positions. Four national policy changes are identified as key developments. These are analyzed with the help of a theoretical framework for explaining different types of institutional change. The paper shows that changes to the Swedish academic career were undertaken gradually over time, mainly by the layering of new rules over or alongside existing ones as a supplement. In addition, the paper shows that some problems with the academic career have been discussed repeatedly and that even where solutions have been set out, the problems seem to persist.