Abstract:
This article examines the German Science and Humanities Council’s (Wissenschaftsrat) 2025 position paper on personnel structures in the German academic system and its reception. The paper proposes a function-based reform introducing a new model with clearer, more diverse staff categories – including a new „science-adjacent“ (wissenschaftsnah) tier – to replace the existing opaque catch-all category of academic employees. Key principles guiding the reform are functionality, attractiveness, transparency, mobility, and diversity. The model calls for more permanent positions, open recruitment processes, systematic staff development, and modernised organisational structures. The proposal has been broadly and positively received by institutions, federal and state actors, as well as intermediary organisations, signalling a fundamental cultural shift in how employment in German academia is conceived.
Über die Autorin:
- Insa Großkraumbach,
Dr., Wissenschaftsrat, Leiterin der Abteilung Tertiäre Bildung, Köln
