General

Temporary contracts: major differences between universities

Some universities quickly give lecturers and 'assistant professors' a permanent contract, while others prefer to offer a temporary position. The differences are significant, the Rathenau Instituut sees.

Tekst hoger onderwijspersbureau (hop) - 6 februari 2020 - Minder dan een minuut om te lezen

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Nearly 90 percent of lecturers at Utrecht University are in temporary employment, compared to 30 percent in Eindhoven. One step higher up the ladder, among the 'university lecturers', there are also large differences: from almost no one with a temporary contract in Delft to about 60 percent in Tilburg.

It was well known that about half of university lecturers have a temporary job. They don't always earn a lot either. Some of them have a salary comparable to that of a teacher in primary school, the HOP reported. Almost three in ten assistant professors also have a temporary appointment. But the Rathenau Institute listed the differences.

For other positions, such as professors and associate professors, it is all closer together: whether you work in Maastricht or Groningen, it makes little difference for the contract. This also applies to the support staff.

Two explanations

Why is it a different story for teachers? The Rathenau checks two explanations for the high number of temporary contracts: the increased student numbers and the increase in project financing, or temporary money.

'However, the number of temporary lecturers does not seem to depend solely on the intake of new students for all universities', the researchers conclude. 'Other causes can be, for example, busy periods or replacement in case of illness.' The increase in the number of students is also not a good explanation for the assistant professors everywhere.

Europe

The problem of temporary contracts is especially relevant in the postdoctoral phase, when researchers have just obtained their PhD and are hopping from job to job. Within Europe, the Netherlands is one of the countries with the most temporary contracts, along with Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Belgium.