Faculty at the Catalan public universities. Retributive system and mobility ACUP Seminar : “Faculty at the Catalan public universities. Retributive system and mobility” 13 January 2014, Barcelona International mobility of university staff – trends, opportunities and caveats Irina Ferencz, ACA Policy Officer

Faculty at the Catalan public universities. Retributive system and mobility Outline 1.Background considerations 2.Why staff mobility? 3.Who is “staff”? Terminological caveats 4.Who is “mobile”? Terminological caveats 5.The patchy picture of staff mobility (some data collection examples) 6.Routes for more and better data collection 7.What could universities do…  My presentation – inevitably show what we don’t know about staff mobility rather than what we safely know  Based on article by Ulrich Teichler, “Academic staff mobility” in Teichler, U., Ferencz, I. & Wächter, B. (2011) Mapping mobility in European higher education, Vol. I, Doc&Mat, DAAD, Bonn.

Faculty at the Catalan public universities. Retributive system and mobility 1. Background considerations  Staff mobility – less of a policy priority than student mobility, because of:  smaller numbers (in absolute terms)  not yet “the normal option” for staff  not part of strategic efforts (in general) – an “individual matter”  internationalisation – traditionally related to students (alone)  ambivalent value judgements  weaker knowledge base  just one of many forms of international collaboration

Faculty at the Catalan public universities. Retributive system and mobility 2. Why staff mobility? 2.1 Internationalisation  Helps home  A feature of “world-class universities” (cf. Salmi) (talent from abroad)  Part of institutional strategy  Used in performance agreements with governments  Indicator in international rankings

Faculty at the Catalan public universities. Retributive system and mobility 2. Why staff mobility? 2.2 The multiplier effect (power of example)  Teaching staff mobility → student mobility  Sensible conclusion, but still weak empirical base  Teachers for, but also against mobility – mutual trust problems and partial recognition

Faculty at the Catalan public universities. Retributive system and mobility 3. Who is “staff”? Terminological caveats  No international, shared understanding of “staff”  Variety of definitions, country and funding-scheme specific, e.g. :  research vs. teaching staff vs. “administrators”  classification by level of experience (Marie Curie Actions)  within universities or also outside?  headcounts vs. full-time equivalent  where put doctoral candidates (staff or students?)  A moving target in Europe*:  3,1 million R&D personnel (HC)  2,2 million R&D personnel (FTE)  1,9 mill. researchers (HC)  1,3 mill. researchers (FTE)  1,3 mill. teaching staff *European Commission and UIS data

Faculty at the Catalan public universities. Retributive system and mobility 4. Who is “mobile”? Terminological caveats  No international, shared understanding of “staff mobility”  No international, comprehensive data set  Variety of forms:  Visits  Sabbaticals  Exchanges  Recruitment of academic staff from abroad  Data collections – mostly national and/or by funding organisation (fellowships and grants)  Still, a standard feature of higher education systems  Longer track record of support at EU level

Faculty at the Catalan public universities. Retributive system and mobility 5. The patchy picture of staff mobility (data collection e.g.) Examples of European-level data collections – Erasmus Programme Source: European Commission

Faculty at the Catalan public universities. Retributive system and mobility 5. The patchy picture of staff mobility (data collection e.g.) a Examples of European-level data collections – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Programme Source: European Commission

Faculty at the Catalan public universities. Retributive system and mobility 6. Routes for more and better data collection Need at least 4 new data systems on: 1.University staff as such (mobile or not); 2.Mobility of PhD students and PhD awards (graduates); 3.Short-term visits, exchanges and sabbaticals (e.g. through CV standardisation as the Diploma Supplement); 4.Career mobility (European-wide survey).

Faculty at the Catalan public universities. Retributive system and mobility 7. What could universities do… 1.Decide on the priorities – which staff mobility? (mobility = a tool for other ends, not an end in itself) 2.Map relevant data that is already being collected 3.Link to strategy (stay realistic and put it into context) 4.Adjust data collection as needed 5.Monitor and evaluate

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