96

January 2020

ARTICLES

The profile of tenure-eligible lecturers

Esteve Arboix - Head of Assessment of Teaching Staff and Research Department

B96_Coberta lector What is the profile of tenure-eligible lecturers who successfully undergo assessment by the Agency? How old are they? How long ago did they obtain their doctorate? Have they spent periods of time undertaking research (research stays)? Do they publish in journals of quality? Are there any variations between the different fields of knowledge? The answers to these and other questions can be found in Profiles of tenure-eligible lecturers, a report recently published by AQU Catalunya that analyses the characteristics of individuals who obtained accreditation in the period from 2013 to 2017.

Since the launch of the system of accreditation for teaching staff in 2003, one of the pending challenges for AQU has been to find ways to provide more information to the system of higher education in Catalonia on the profile of accredited teaching staff. We believe that this report makes important in-roads in this regard.

Prevailing legislation (Act 1/2003, 19 February, on the Universities in Catalonia/LUC) stipulates that “teaching staff at tenure-eligible lecturer level are post-doctoral dissertation teaching assistants (...) in the initial stage of their academic career”. They are therefore recent doctoral graduates who are starting their academic career. According to available data, however, the average age of those applying for accreditation at tenure-eligible lecturer level is over 38, a figure that clearly contrasts with the original spirit of the lawmakers and which warrants some reflection.

The purpose of the report is broader than to provide mere awareness of the characteristics of those who pass assessment, the intention being to give a comprehensive overview of the necessary requirements, based on the screening of data from the CVs analysed. To establish the profiles, AQU developed an algorithm for automatic CV screening, a process which is subsequently reviewed manually. It is worth noting that the sample of CVs analysed (78%) is very high, meaning that the information is highly representative.

The report makes a diagnosis of the necessary requirements in order for applicants to successfully undergo assessment for accreditation purposes in each of the six fields of knowledge (subject areas) that the work of the Research Assessment Committee/CAR's work is divided into and gives a composite picture of applicants based on the average quantitative profile of the merits (mainly publications, projects and periods/stays of research) of people who have successfully undergone accreditation. This information can be useful in the decision-making process for those considering the need to apply for assessment. Under no circumstances however shall this substitute what is laid down in the assessment criteria.

As this article must of necessity be brief, we refer the reader to the original document for more details on the different profiles. We can, however, highlight four features common to teaching staff at tenure-eligible lecturer level who successfully undergo assessment for accreditation purposes:

  1. Research experience is the dimension with the highest weighting (over 60%) so the accreditation of quality publications is fundamental. In this regard, it is worth emphasising that it is the quality of publications that prevails over the quantity. The review committees pay particular attention to contributions to research (articles, books, book chapters, etc.) that have robust peer review processes and are indexed in the main journal databases and repositories. The quantity and the bibliometric parameters serve as a guide, but it is the proven quality of the contributions that prevails.

Below is an example from the Social Sciences:

Publications:papers in indexed journals, book chapters, written
and oral conference presentations(average and maximum value)

B96_CienciesSocials
 

  1. Participation in competitive research projects is an important aspect. Candidates are by no means expected to be a principal researcher in a project (IP). Their involvement, however, is expected to result in research contributions.

Below is an example from the Life Sciences:

Competitive projectsin which the applicanthas been the principal investigatorand
competitive projects in which(s)he has taken part(average and maximum value)

B96_CienciesVida
 

  1. In general, particular attention is paid to the fact that candidates have undertaken and accredited medium and long-term periods of research/research stays at pre- and post-doctoral level in research institutes and centres. The fact that the institution has an acknowledged international reputation is an advantage.

Below is an example from the Experimental Sciences:

Number of pre-doctoral and post-doctoral stays and months
on pre-doctoral and post-doctoral stays (average and maximum value)

 B96_Ciencies

  1. The dimension of teaching is given a weighting of between 15% and 25%, according to each review committee. Attention is paid to a candidate's teaching career, as well as innovation in teaching and teacher training. Each committee establishes minimum thresholds for teaching delivery. The accreditation of outstanding merits in research may however compensate for any shortcomings in the dimension of teaching.

To sum up, we believe that the study provides information for dealing with the issues mentioned at the start of this article and paves the way for the application of this analytical methodology to other teaching staff positions (for example, teaching staff that require accreditation for either research or advanced research) and for focusing on specific fields of knowledge where a more in-depth analysis is required. 

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