A chair system in transition.pdfVIP

Higher Education 41: 3–25, 2001. 3 ? 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. A chair system in transition: Appointments, promotions, and gate-keeping in German higher education JüRGEN ENDERS Center for Research on Higher Education and Work, University of Kassel, Henschelstr. 4, D-34109 Kassel, Germany E-mail: enders.hochschulforschung@uni-kassel.de. Abstract. The traditional German system of academic appointments and careers has recently become a focus of policy reorganisation. The article analyses the ongoing debates and changes on the basis of an examination of the origins and overall function of the academic career system. It is argued that the recruitment, promotion, and appointment of academic staff are seen as more important issues in countries, like Germany, where they shape the institutional pattern of higher education and where they are a major link to the state and society. Introduction In recent years, the traditional system of higher education in Germany has come under increasing scrutiny among politicians and in the public debate, because of its perceived outdated and inef?cient structure. As in many other industrial countries, massi?cation and budget cuts have put the system under constraints. The trend toward a knowledge society has paradoxically been accompanied by a loss of social exclusiveness for the academic profession. Demands for accountability and control are growing as are expectations for the usefulness, effectiveness, and dissemination of academic work. A debate is under way over the perceived rigidities of Germany’s highly homo- genous higher education system, which has traditionally been subject to dense governmental regulations. Lack of differentiation and competition within higher education, in?exibilities in the current system of public ?nancing and regulation, and concerns over international competitiveness are on the agenda of higher