Page 61 - Through the gate of the neoliberal academy • Herschberg

Department Natural Sciences (STEM)
Social Sciences (SSH)
Data analysis
Respondent
Interview respondent 1 Interview respondent 2 Interview respondent 3 Interview respondent 4 Interview respondent 5 Focus group respondent A Focus group respondent B Focus group respondent C Focus group respondent D Interview respondent 1 Interview respondent 2 Interview respondent 3 Interview respondent 4 Focus group respondent A Focus group respondent B Focus group respondent C
Sex Position
Male Associate Professor Male Professor
Male Professor
Male Professor
Male Professor
Male Professor
Male Professor
Male Associate Professor Male Professor
Female Assistant Professor Female Professor
Male Professor
Male Professor
Female Professor
Male Associate Professor Female Associate Professor
SELECTING EARLY-CAREER RESEARCHERS 59
and selection of tenure-track assistant professors. They were structured around two themes: selection criteria for assistant professorship positions and department policies regarding recruitment and selection. The interviews lasted between one and two hours, and the focus groups lasted two hours. The interviews and focus groups were recorded with respondents’ permission and transcribed verbatim.
Table 3.1 Interview and focus group respondents per department
In the meso-level data (university policy documents, department protocols and job vacancies), the analysis started with searching for textual signposts connected to internationalisation and excellence. This exercise helped selecting relevant excerpts related to the macro-discourses. Then, these excerpts were open-coded to analyse which specific aspects were related to internationalisation and excellence. Then, a second round of coding was carried out, focused on recruitment and selection criteria for assistant professors. This resulted in codes, such as talent, quality, promise, excellence, teaching abilities, number and quality of publications, English language capabilities, Dutch language capabilities, mobility, international recruitment and selection criterion. A comparison of the Natural Sciences department with the Social Sciences department was made in order to find similarities and differences.
Subsequently, it was analysed how the meso-level criteria were constructed at
3