Regional and institutional trends in assessment for academic promotion

Abstract

The assessment of research performance is widely seen as a vital tool in upholding thehighest standards of quality, with selection and competition believed to drive progress.Academic institutions need to take critical decisions on hiring and promotion, whilefacing external pressure by also being subject to research assessment1–4. Here we present an outlook on research assessment for career progression with specifcfocus on promotion to full professorship, based on 314 policies from 190 academicinstitutions and 218 policies from 58 government agencies, covering 32 countries inthe Global North and 89 countries in the Global South. We investigated how frequentlyvarious promotion criteria are mentioned and carried out a statistical analysis to infercommonalities and diferences across policies. Although quantitative methods ofassessment remain popular, in agreement with what is found in more geographicallyrestricted studies5–9, they are not omnipresent. We fnd diferences between the GlobalNorth and the Global South as well as between institutional and national policies, butless so between disciplines. A preference for bibliometric indicators is more marked inupper-middle-income countries. Although we see some variation, many promotionpolicies are based on the assumption of specifc career paths that become normativerather than embracing diversity. In turn, this restricts opportunities for researchers.These results challenge current practice and have strategic implications forresearchers, research managers and national governments.