United Kingdom Lecturer

1 united kingdom

1.1 historical use
1.2 current uses
1.3 tenure , permanent lectureships

united kingdom

in uk, term lecturer ambiguous , covers several academic ranks. key distinction between permanent/open-ended or temporary/fixed-term lectureships.

a permanent lecturer in uk universities holds open-ended position covers teaching, research, , administrative responsibilities. permanent lectureships tenure-track or tenured positions equivalent assistant or associate professorship in north america. after number of years, lecturer may promoted based on or research record become senior lecturer. position below reader , professor.

research lecturers (where permanent appointments) equivalent in rank of lecturers , senior lecturers, reflect research-intensive orientation. research lecturers common in fields such medicine, engineering, , biological , physical sciences.

in contrast, fixed-term or temporary lecturers appointed specific short-term teaching needs. these positions non-renewable , common post-doctoral appointments. in north american terms, fixed-term lecturer can hold equivalent rank assistant professor without tenure. typically, longer contracts denote greater seniority or higher rank. teaching fellows may referred lecturers—for example, exeter named of group education , scholarship lecturers (e & s) recognise contribution of teaching, , elevate titles of teaching fellows lecturers. universities refer graduate students or others, undertake ad-hoc teaching department sessional lecturers. adjunct professors , sessional lecturers in north america, these non-permanent teaching staff poorly paid (as little £6000 p.a. in 2011-12). these varying uses of term lecturer cause confusion non-uk academics.

as proportion of uk academic staff, proportion of permanent lectureships has fallen considerably. 1 reason why permanent lectureships secured after several years of post-doctoral experience. data higher education statistics agency show in 2013-14, 36 per cent of full- , part-time academic staff on fixed-term contracts, down 45 per cent decade earlier. on same period, proportion of academic staff on permanent contracts rose 55 per cent 64 per cent. others on contracts classed “atypical”.

in summary, uk academics rank of lecturer have open-ended or permanent positions, can lead research groups, can apply external funding research principal investigators, , have teaching responsibilities.

historical use

historically in uk, promotion senior lectureship reflected prowess in teaching or administration rather research, , position less lead direct promotion professor.

in contrast, promotion senior lecturer nowadays based on research achievements (for research-intensive universities), , integral part of promotion path full chair. promotion reader still necessary before promotion full chair; however, universities no longer make appointments @ level of reader (for instance, university of leeds , university of oxford). senior lecturers , readers paid on same salary scale, although readers recognized more senior. readers in pre-1992 universities considered @ least equivalent, in terms of status, of (full) professors in post-1992 universities. many academics consider more prestigious have been reader in pre-1992 university professor in post-1992 university.

many open-ended lecturers in uk have doctorate (50.1% in 2009-2010) , have postdoctoral research experience. in fields, doctorate prerequisite, although historically not case. academic positions have been held on basis of research merit alone, without higher degree.

current uses

the new universities (that universities until termed polytechnics) have different ranking naming scheme older universities. whereas many pre-1992 universities use grades: lecturer (a), lecturer (b), sr lecturer, reader, professor, post-1992 grades lecturer, senior lecturer, principal lecturer, reader, professor. confusion surrounds differing use of sr. lecturer title. sr. lecturer in post-1992 university equivalent lecturer (b) in pre-1992 university, whereas sr. lecturer in pre-1992 university equivalent principal lecturer in post-1992 university.

according times higher education, university of warwick decided in 2006 break away hundreds of years of academic tradition, renaming lecturers assistant professors , senior lecturers , readers associate professors while still calling professors professors . radical move horrify believe professor title should reserved academic elite. nottingham has mixture of standard uk system, , system @ warwick, both lecturers , assistant professors. @ reading, job advertisements , academic staff web pages use title associate professor, ordinances of university make no reference these titles. address procedures conferring traditional uk academic ranks.

tenure , permanent lectureships

since conservatives 1988 education reform act, ironclad tenure used exist in uk has given way less secure form of tenure. technically, university vice-chancellors can make individual faculty members redundant poor performance or institute departmental redundancies, in practice, rare. noted use of policy happened in 2012 @ queen mary university of london lecturers on permanent contracts fired. institutions has stated policy of firing , replacing under-performing teaching staff members. policy complicated 2008 ball vs aberdeen tribunal decision, distinction between teaching , research faculty blurring- implications can , cannot made redundant @ uk universities, , under conditions.

despite recent erosion of tenure in uk, still practiced in universities. permanent contracts use word tenure lecturers reappointed retiring age . equivalent tenure decision—references sought world-leading academics , tenure , promotions committees meet decide tenure cases. there no title elevation such instances—tenure , title independent.