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Academic Career Mobility: Career Advancement, Transnational Mobility and Gender Equity

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Abstract

This study explores how policy discourses on academic career are articulated in Swedish higher education. Discourses on academic career are often expressing meritocracy and the necessity of competition, but also include demands for flexibility and global participation. Recent decades of higher education policy have also stressed the importance of gender equity, which is particularly evident in the Nordic countries. Yet, how these discourses interact and impact on contemporary ideas on academic career remains unclear. We analyse a selection of Swedish government bills to explore present policy discourses on academic career mobility, and how these discourses express and create tensions for different staff groups. The findings shows that the notion, and promotion of career mobility in Swedish higher education features tensions between career advancement, transnational mobility and work life stability. It is also clear that some scholars are defined as more career mobile and successful than others. Hence, discourses on career mobility tend to give legitimacy to already existing work divisions and hierarchies partly undermining gender equity. In conclusion, our findings show tensions and contradictions in these policies, which give base for further nuanced and critical discussions on the current conditions and possibilities in Swedish higher education and academic career. 

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Notes

  1. Later, the term “Matilda effect” was coined to describe the observation that women systematically get less credit than men (Rossiter, 1993).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Work, University of Borås, Borås, Sweden

    Petra Angervall

  2. Swedish School of Library and Information Science (SSLIS), University of Borås, Borås, Sweden

    Björn Hammarfelt

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  1. Petra Angervall
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  2. Björn Hammarfelt
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Correspondence to Petra Angervall.

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Angervall, P., Hammarfelt, B. Academic Career Mobility: Career Advancement, Transnational Mobility and Gender Equity. High Educ Policy (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-023-00322-3

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