Effects of institutional changes on requirements for vacant professorships in Germany

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine changes in requirements profiles in appointment procedures for professorships in Germany due to institutional changes in higher education. Recent reforms in higher education have not only enhanced the autonomy of universities, but also confronted them with new institutionalized expectations of their environment (e.g. to compete for funding from governmental or private sources). It is assumed that universities react to changing demands placed on them by modifying their organisational structure and their programmes in particular. Since programmes of universities, which can be referred to as organisational tasks, have to be fulfilled by the academic personnel, the tasks of the professoriate and thus the requirements profile for professorships should have changed. This assumption has been analysed empirically. Based on a quantitative content analysis of 830 job advertisements, the requirements for professorships in different years have been evaluated. Overall, the results of multivariate analyses indicate that certain requirements (e.g. the ability to cooperate) are more likely to be demanded in recent years.