Understanding career transitions of applied researchers to universities

Evidence from Germany

authored by: Cecilia Garcia Chavez, David Howoldt, Patrick Hoyer, Maria Karaulova, Henning Kroll, Torben Schubert
Abstract: This paper analyses the conditions and factors influencing non-university researchers' career transitions back into academia. Using affiliation data in publications of German researchers, their cross-sector career transitions from the public research organisation Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and industry to universities are analysed. Although the rate of transitions is small, there are distinctive windows of opportunity at a junior career stage, especially for Fraunhofer researchers. Researchers who publish more and in more acclaimed journals, Fraunhofer researchers who co-publish with universities, and women are more likely to gain a university affiliation over the course of their career. These results indicate the influence of institutional proximity for cross-domain career transitions. The quality and impact of academic knowledge could be improved if the higher education sector was more open to recruitment of researchers from other sectors. Policy needs to target the barriers that preclude applied researchers from pursuing university careers.
Organisation(s): Institute of Economic and Human Geography
External Organisation(s): Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI)
Lund University
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
Type: Article
Journal: Science and Public Policy
Volume: 51
Pages: 89-107
No. of pages: 19
ISSN: 0302-3427
Publication date: 02.2024
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Geography, Planning and Development, Public Administration, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1093/scipol/scad049 (Access: Closed)

BibTeX

@article{c6149da073884a33b944791f41b4f209,
title = "Understanding career transitions of applied researchers to universities: Evidence from Germany",
abstract = "This paper analyses the conditions and factors influencing non-university researchers' career transitions back into academia. Using affiliation data in publications of German researchers, their cross-sector career transitions from the public research organisation Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and industry to universities are analysed. Although the rate of transitions is small, there are distinctive windows of opportunity at a junior career stage, especially for Fraunhofer researchers. Researchers who publish more and in more acclaimed journals, Fraunhofer researchers who co-publish with universities, and women are more likely to gain a university affiliation over the course of their career. These results indicate the influence of institutional proximity for cross-domain career transitions. The quality and impact of academic knowledge could be improved if the higher education sector was more open to recruitment of researchers from other sectors. Policy needs to target the barriers that preclude applied researchers from pursuing university careers.",
keywords = "applied research, career transitions, inter-sectoral researcher mobility, knowledge transfer, research careers",
author = "Chavez, {Cecilia Garcia} and David Howoldt and Patrick Hoyer and Maria Karaulova and Henning Kroll and Torben Schubert",
note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by internal funding of Fraunhofer. ",
year = "2024",
month = feb,
doi = "10.1093/scipol/scad049",
language = "English",
volume = "51",
pages = "89--107",
journal = "Science and Public Policy",
issn = "0302-3427",
publisher = "Oxford University Press",
number = "1",
}