Page 210 - Through the gate of the neoliberal academy • Herschberg
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208 ENGLISH SUMMARY
Selecting early-career researchers
In chapter 3, I study tenure-track1 assistant professor positions, focusing on how discourses of internationalisation and excellence shape formal selection criteria and the actual practice of committee members in the evaluation of candidates for assistant professor positions in a Dutch university. Discourses of internationalisation and excellence are intertwined in the university, meaning that internationalisation (e.g., work experience abroad) will lead to higher quality in education and research and in turn will enhance the international reputation. This rhetoric is particularly reproduced by committee members in the natural sciences department and to a lesser extent in the social sciences. Recruitment and selection in and of itself are practices designed to exclude people. Yet, unintended inequalities can come to the fore that are based on categories of social differences. The main findings in this chapter relate to the uncovering of four inequalities that emerge in the application of criteria. These inequalities are (re)produced through a lack of definition of criteria, and personal interpretations and preferences.
First, even though the criterion of international experience implies that experience in any foreign country is valued, my findings show that committee members value only certain countries. This results in the exclusion of candidates who acquired (postdoc) experience in countries that are not valued, without standing a chance of being assessed on their quality as researchers and teachers. Second, the Dutch and English language requirements can result in the exclusion of foreign candidates from the process, as some committee members anticipate communication problems based on a candidate’s nationality. Third, inequality is created between early-career researchers who have mobility opportunities and those who have not. Such opportunities can be influenced by, for example, physical, psychological, social or financial factors. Fourth, the criterion of excellence becomes problematic in its application, as excellence is subjective, and typically more difficult to evaluate for young scholars, since committee members mainly assess their potential instead of proven qualities. Furthermore, committee members draw on their subjective interpretation of the potential of prospective candidates, which can create inequalities between, for example, men and women candidates.
This chapter concludes that discourses of internationalisation and excellence that dominate the current neoliberal university create increasingly demanding criteria for tenure-track assistant professors. With only a few committee members
1 A tenure-track position is a temporary position that will lead, at the end of a certain period of time, to a tenure procedure to decide whether the assistant professor will be offered a permanent position.
 




























































































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