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V. Foreign Higher Education and Education Systems, International Relations, Bilateral Relations
B. Essays, Commentaries, Statements
Author HUGO, Graeme
Title Some emerging demographic issues on Australia's teaching academic workforce
Publication year 2005
Source/Footnote In: Higher education policy. - 18 (2005) 3, S. 207 - 229
Inventory number 19639
Keywords Ausland : Australien : Forschung, Hochschullehrer ; Ausland : Australien : einzelne Hochschulen
Abstract Like other OECD nations, Australia is facing a crisis in the academic staff of its universities over the next two decades. This is a function of several factors, among which demographic elements are especially significant. The academic workforce of Australia is characterized by three distinct demographic features ? age heaping, a concentration in older ages, and gender imbalance. The first two are a result of rapid expansion in the late 1960s and 1970s when the numbers of students expanded exponentially with the passage of the post-war baby boom cohorts into the university entrance ages and greatly increased participation rates. This, together with increases in student/staff ratios and perhaps the increased attractiveness of alternative vocations, has created a dearth of young academics. The impending and actual retirement of the bulge means that there will be a tightening of the academic labor market and an increase in demand for university staff unprecedented for three decades. This will occur in a context where the number of Australian graduates moving to foreign universities is increasing rapidly as a result of further internationalization of the labor market. Some of the challenges and opportunities that this presents are discussed. (HRK / Abstract übernommen)