Academic Hierarchies Explained!!!! USA vs Australia

Summary

In this enlightening video, Dr. Sam Munroe explores the academic hierarchies within the USA and Australia, highlighting the unique differences and similarities. Munroe delves into the nuances of academic ranks, explaining the roles and expectations at each level, from postdoctoral fellows to distinguished professors. The video provides a comprehensive overview of how tenure and contract types differ between the two countries, offering insights into the pathways of academic progression. This educational segment is a valuable resource for anyone navigating or interested in the academic communities of these regions.

Highlights

• Dr. Sam Munroe clarifies academic hierarchies in the USA and Australia, comparing key aspects. 🎓
• The US academic system revolves around tenure, providing job security, unlike the Australian system. 🔄
• Academic titles in Australia are more exclusive compared to the USA, where 'professor' is a common rank. 🇦🇺
• Achieving tenure in the US requires demonstrating significant value to the university, a high bar to reach. 📈
• In Australia, academic contracts vary from casual to continuing, with no tenure system in place. 📜
• Pathways to becoming a distinguished professor require international recognition and significant contributions. 🌍

Key Takeaways

• Academic hierarchies differ substantially between the USA and Australia, with titles and expectations varying at each level. 🇺🇸🇦🇺
• Understanding academic ranks can help demystify the seemingly complex world of academia. 📚
• Tenure in the US offers job security, but Australia operates with varying contract types. 🔐
• Academic progression is highly competitive, requiring excellence in research, teaching, and service. 🌟
• Australian and US systems both culminate in distinguished professor roles, highlighting top achievers. 🏆

Overview

Ah, academia! Dr. Sam Munroe takes us on a tour through the academic maze of the USA and Australia, explaining the ins and outs of their hierarchical structures. In this enlightening video, she breaks down the ranks from postdoctoral fellow to the coveted position of distinguished professor, noting how each step is filled with its own unique set of challenges and expectations.

The video dives into the often mystifying world of tenure – a key feature in the US that offers job security for professors. However, Australian academics navigate a different landscape, where positions are defined by contract types without tenure. Munroe paints a picture of the paths academics take, offering a clear comparison between these two systems.

If climbing the academic ladder seems daunting, Dr. Munroe reassures us that it's indeed competitive, filled with rigorous evaluations at every level. Whether you're aspiring to be a full professor or a distinguished one, the journey requires dedication, excellence in teaching and research, and a dash of perseverance. The video leaves us with a greater appreciation for those who navigate these scholarly paths.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction The chapter titled 'Introduction' begins with a welcome message to the viewers of the channel. The speaker, Dr. Salmon Rowe, introduces himself as an ecologist who studies plants and animals and their interactions. He mentions the topic of the video, which is to explain the academic hierarchies at American and Australian colleges and universities.
• 01:00 - 02:00: Understanding Academia The chapter titled 'Understanding Academia' begins with an introduction on making educational videos on YouTube, specifically focusing on ecology and the experience of being a scientist in academia. The narrator has over a decade of experience in academic settings across various universities and describes academia as a complex and confusing environment. The chapter emphasizes the peculiar and intricate nature of academia which often baffles newcomers, but it reassures readers that the following video series aims to demystify the academic world.
• 02:00 - 03:00: The Academic Hierarchy This chapter 'The Academic Hierarchy' delves into the structure and functioning of Academia, focusing on the roles and responsibilities of scientists at different stages of their careers within a university setting. It describes Academia as a community centered on research and education and begins to outline the significance of understanding this hierarchy for academic professionals.
• 03:00 - 05:00: Academic Hierarchies in the USA and Canada The chapter discusses the hierarchy within academic institutions in the USA and Canada, focusing on the positions held by researchers and teachers. It explains that academics in such institutions strive to ascend this hierarchy by excelling in three key areas: research, teaching, and service. Service involves administrative responsibilities such as participating on university committees. To secure a promotion, an academic must demonstrate proven success across all these areas.
• 05:00 - 06:30: Academic Hierarchies in Australia The chapter explores the concept of academic hierarchies and how they vary across different countries and universities. It begins with the assumption that academic hierarchy systems are universally the same but quickly notes that this is not the case. The chapter specifically focuses on comparing the academic hierarchy systems of Canada and the United States with that of Australia. Despite Australia's relatively small population size, the speaker highlights that it has a significant number of universities and provides insights based on their personal experience living there.
• 06:30 - 09:30: Understanding Tenure and Contracts The chapter discusses the primary academic levels in the United States and Canada, focusing initially on postdoctoral fellowships as entry-level, non-tenure track positions for PhD graduates. It briefly introduces the concept of tenure, which is promised to be explained later in the video. The chapter then explains the role of an assistant professor, often a tenure-track position that can lead to further career advancement to associate professor. This sets the foundation for understanding how tenure and contracts operate within the academic hierarchy.
• 09:30 - 17:00: Roles and Responsibilities at Different Levels This chapter delves into the hierarchy of academic positions, focusing on the roles and responsibilities associated with different academic ranks. It starts by discussing mid-level faculty positions such as Associate Professors, who are usually tenured. Following this, the chapter introduces the role of a Full Professor, which is considered the pinnacle of the tenure track within the academic system. Furthermore, it mentions that in the Canadian and U.S systems, an individual can be honored with titles such as Distinguished Professor or Chair, representing prestigious acknowledgments beyond the standard full Professorship. These are special titles, often awarded upon achieving notable scholarly accomplishments.
• 17:00 - 18:00: Reaching Full Professor Status This chapter discusses the status of reaching full professorship, highlighting that such positions are generally offered to a small elite group of faculty members at universities. These positions might be associated with financial endowments, increasing the professor's salary and research funding. Recognized as the cream of the crop, these distinguished professors have exceptional records in research and teaching, being leaders and innovators in their fields. Additionally, a comparison with Australia's academic levels is mentioned.
• 18:00 - 19:30: Becoming a Distinguished Professor The chapter 'Becoming a Distinguished Professor' begins with an explanation of the different academic levels, using letters to denote rank rather than titles. The basic level, referred to as Level A, corresponds to a postdoctoral fellow, akin to postdoctoral positions in the United States. This level serves as an entry-level role for PhD graduates in Australia. Following Level A is Level B, which is often known as lectures or research fellows. A Level B academic in Australia is comparable to... (the text cuts off).
• 19:30 - 20:00: Concluding Remarks The chapter provides a detailed comparison of academic titles between Australia and the United States, emphasizing the various levels and their equivalences. It begins by explaining that an assistant professor in the U.S. is comparable to a Level B academic in Australia. The narrative progresses to describe Level C academics in Australia, who are akin to associate professors in the U.S. It then addresses the confusing nomenclature where Level D academics in Australia, sometimes called associate professors, actually correspond to full professors in the U.S. The chapter concludes by mentioning Level E in Australia, although the description is incomplete.

Academic Hierarchies Explained!!!! USA vs Australia Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hi everyone welcome to the channel in this video I am going to explain the American and Australian academic hierarchies at colleges and universities [Music] hi everyone if you are new to the channel my name is Dr Salmon Rowe and I am an ecologist that means I study plants and animals and how they interact
• 00:30 - 01:00 with their environment here on YouTube I Like to make videos explaining ecology in film and media but also talking about what it's like to be a scientist and work in Academia I have worked as an academic for over 10 years at different universities and I have to say it's a pretty confusing Place Academia is its own strange little world with lots of twists and turns and it often leaves people asking what in the world is actually happening here but not to worry because in a video series I've decided
• 01:00 - 01:30 to call Academy huh I am going to try and explain this weird little ecosystem that we call Academia and how it all works today I will be explaining the all-important academic hierarchy and talk about what scientists will be expected to do at each stage of their career if they work at a university first things first when I say Academia I am talking about the community of people that work in research and education at a university an academic like me is
• 01:30 - 02:00 someone who is a researcher or a teacher at a university academics at colleges and universities operate within a hierarchy of positions sometimes referred to as levels or ranks academics attempt to move up this hierarchy by demonstrating excellence in three main categories research teaching and service service duties refer to administrative work like sitting on a university Committee in order to be promoted an academic must be a proven success in all three of these categories you might
• 02:00 - 02:30 think that the academic hierarchy system is universal in all you universities around the world but actually different countries and different universities have different hierarchy systems with different titles for different levels in this video I'm going to discuss and compare two major hierarchy academic systems the first one I'm going to talk about is the one that's used in Canada and the United States and the second one is the one that's used in Australia I realize Australia isn't really that big by population standards but we have quite a few universities and I live in
• 02:30 - 03:00 Australia so we're going to talk about it let's begin with the United States and Canada which have five main academic levels starting from lowest to highest we begin with the postdoctoral fellow this is an entry-level non-tenure track position for a PhD graduate don't worry I'm going to explain exactly what tenure is just a little later in the video next we have assistant professor this is often a 10-year track position which can lead to promotion in the hierarchy after that there is the associate professor
• 03:00 - 03:30 this is a mid-level usually tenured faculty position after associate professor we have Professor also sometimes referred to as full Professor a full Professor is the final destination of the tenure track in an academic system you can't really climb any higher than a full Professor the exception to this is the final level in the Canadian and U.S systems which is if you are named a distinguished Professor or a chair these titles are only granted
• 03:30 - 04:00 to a small percentage of the top faculty at a university sometimes but not always they are associated with financial endowments that have been made to the university and they sometimes come with a little extra salary and a little bit of extra funding for their research essentially a distinguished Professor should be thought of as the cream of the crop they have an amazing track record of research and teaching and they are Lee leaders and game changers in their field Australia also has five main academic levels but unlike the United States we
• 04:00 - 04:30 distinguish the levels using letters not titles starting from lowest to highest we have level a academics this is also sometimes referred to as a postdoctoral fellow and it is equivalent to a postdoctoral fellowship in the United States this would be an entry-level position for a PhD graduate in Australia next up we have level B academics sometimes also referred to as lectures or research fellows a level B academic in Australia is roughly equivalent to an
• 04:30 - 05:00 assistant professor in the United States after that we have level C academics sometimes referred to as senior lectures or senior research fellows these are roughly equivalent to being an associate professor in the United States the next two levels is where the names start to get a little bit confusing in Australia after level C we have Level D but this is sometimes called associate professor however it is roughly equivalent to being a professor or a full professor in the United States and last but not least we have level E this is also sometimes
• 05:00 - 05:30 referred to in Australia as a professor but it is roughly equivalent to being a distinguished Professor or a chair in the United States so right away we see one of the biggest differences between the Australian and American systems in Australia the title Professor is reserved for really only the top academic faculty in the United States it's a little bit more of a job title now it's time for a brief mention of tenure tenure is a type of academic appointment that exists in the United States and Canada but does not exist in
• 05:30 - 06:00 Australia in a nutshell a tenured professor is someone who's basically been given lifetime employment they cannot be fired except under the most extreme circumstances this would include things like the financial ruin of the University or their entire department being eliminated when people talk about 10-year track positions in the United States and Canada like being an assistant professor what they're really saying is that maybe in future or this job could become permanent however to receive tenure you need to demonstrate
• 06:00 - 06:30 that you are an extremely valuable asset to the university a non-tenure track position would be the opposite that type of position would have a fixed end date and there's no chance of that position becoming permanent so tenure is a really big deal it's job protection but on top of that it also often provides you with additional funds and freedom to speak your mind you don't have to worry about getting fired so tenured academics tend to say what they really think on
• 06:30 - 07:00 different topics for Better or For Worse in Australia we no longer have a 10-year academic system what we have now are basically three different types of contracts casual temporary and continuing casual academics are hourly they're usually hired to help out for a short period of time for teaching or research projects however there is no firm commitment from the University on the number of hours you will be paid to work temporary academic jobs are full or
• 07:00 - 07:30 part-time contracts that have a fixed end date they are also sometimes called fixed term contracts these contracts will usually last between one to three years but there is no guarantee of renewal and the university is under no obligation to continue your employment once you get to the end of your contract fixed term contracts are often given to postdoctoral fellows or Grant funded researchers and when the fellowship ends or when the grant money runs out so does the contract A continuing position
• 07:30 - 08:00 sometimes referred to as an ongoing or permanent position is an open-ended position with no fixed end date for the contract this usually means you are now directly paid by the university rather than getting your salary from an external Grant in that sense A continuing contract is certainly more secure than a fixed term or temporary contract but even someone who's hired on a permanent basis can be fired if they fail performance reviews or they can simply be made redundant so it's not the same as having tenure in the United
• 08:00 - 08:30 States an associate professor or above is usually a tenured position but in Australia it's equivalent a level B or above could be permanent but not necessarily it's done much more on a contract by contract basis it is important to understand that an academic cannot automatically progress through this hierarchy and absolutely nobody automatically gets tenure after a certain number of years getting tenure is a highly competitive process and moving up the academic ladder in any
• 08:30 - 09:00 country usually requires a formal application for promotion and this process is time consuming and is usually very stringent now that we know what the rankings are let's talk about what you have to do at each level within the academic hierarchy if you want to be a success postdoctoral fellowships or level a academic positions are entry-level positions for new PhD graduates as a postdoctoral fellow you will like be hired to work on a specific
• 09:00 - 09:30 research project under the supervision of a more senior researcher your salary will usually be provided for by your supervisor through some kind of external grant that they've secured however some of you may have already earned your own external grant funding to cover your salary well done you the purpose of a postdoctoral fellowship sometimes called a postdoc is to deepen and broaden your skills and basically introduce you into the wider world of Academia this means your supervisor should be providing you with opportunities for a career
• 09:30 - 10:00 enhancement and expanded training in your field however although you are still supervised you will be expected to work far more independently than you did when you were a student you want to prove that you can work independently and do your own research if you hope to move from a level a to a level B position or from a postdoctoral fellowship to an assistant professor role you may take on some teaching responsibilities but this will vary depending on your contract you may even take on a few research students of your own but it's unlikely that you'll be their primary supervisor you'll probably
• 10:00 - 10:30 be a co-supervisor working with more senior academics ideally you should be looking to get some grant funding even if it's a small amount to support your own research and most importantly you need to be publishing your work demonstrating your ability to bring in funding and publish your research are the two most important things that you can do to move up the academic hierarchy at this at this stage you may be expected to take on some minor service roles but these will be simple things like peer reviewing papers or
• 10:30 - 11:00 volunteering at University events now the question that usually gets asked at this point is how long do I have to be a level a or a postdoctoral fellow before I can move on up the ladder and the frustrating answer is how long is a piece of string some people may have to take on multiple post-doc positions each being about one to three years long potentially a very different institutions before they gain enough experience to be promoted to the next level
• 11:00 - 11:30 other people may only do one post-doc again one to three years long before they're lucky enough to be moved up the ladder it's really different for each person as an assistant professor or a level B academic everything steps up a notch this level requires at least a PhD and usually several years of postdoctoral experience at this stage while you will still hopefully be getting some advice and mentorship from senior researchers you will also be expected to do your own research independently you will be managing your
• 11:30 - 12:00 own research projects and likely leading small research teams of your own and unless the university is paying for your salary you will need to be bringing in grant money that covers not only your salary but likely also some of your research costs and some of your students costs as well you might be teaching but it really depends on your contract in Australia I know that some contracts as little as 20 percent of a level B academics time is dedicated to teaching but it could be as much as 40 or sixty
• 12:00 - 12:30 percent your service commitments are also about to increase this can include things like sitting on a university committee or helping with Outreach and recruitment most importantly you need to be establishing a record of success both in bringing in grant money and Publishing high impact research you need to be developing a reputation as an expert in your field in Australia you could be eligible to apply for promotion from level B to level C after just four years of graduating from your PhD but honestly how long you spend is the level
• 12:30 - 13:00 B before you get promoted is really variable just like it being level a you might have to move through different institutions before you can find a job where they promote you up to a level C the good news is if you apply for promotion and you fail take heart because you can reapply usually after a waiting period of about one year in the United States and Canada with a 10-year track system it is completely different an assistant professor usually has a contract that's about six to seven years long and in the
• 13:00 - 13:30 final year of that contract they have to apply for a promotion to a tenured position if the assistant professor passes their review then they get promoted to associate professor and receive tenure if they don't pass they get fired and have to leave the university by the end of their final year what it's pretty rough what this means is they either have to try and find another job at another University or leave Academia all together an associate professor or a level C academic in Australia is expected to
• 13:30 - 14:00 have a much larger role in the University you will be expected to bring in large amounts of grant funding for research if you're in the U.S system and you're tenured you probably won't need to be supporting your own salary but in Australia there is a chance that you need to support both your research and your salary with the grant money that you bring in you will also likely be supervising and financially supporting a team of students and Junior academics a level C academic is expected to conduct research that makes a significant contribution to their field both
• 14:00 - 14:30 nationally and internationally your work needs to be considered influential and important for expanding the discipline this can be demonstrated in a variety of ways for example showing where your work has influenced government policy if you're teaching you're not only going to be expected to deliver the curriculum but also develop and evaluate the curriculum as well at this stage you also need to demonstrate your investment in the University's culture you will likely serve on various committees be an active voice in guiding the direction of
• 14:30 - 15:00 the faculty and probably be helping to decide about other people getting promoted or hired at the University to make it to level C or associate professor you really have to have proven yourself with an incredibly competitive publication track record of a really high impact manuscripts a professor in the United States or a Level D academic or associate professor in Australia makes but only can be described as an outstanding contribution to research
• 15:00 - 15:30 teaching and service in terms of research a professor is expected to make original and Innovative contributions to their field which are recognized nationally and internationally a professor would be expected to manage a fairly large group of students post-docs and Junior academics and be bringing in all the funding to keep that ship afloat a Level D academic or full professor in the United States is expected to be a leader in the university community and heavily invested in the school's
• 15:30 - 16:00 reputation you will likely contribute to University governance and collegial life you will also likely be involved in important departmental decisions really the biggest difference between a level C and Level D is all of this internal responsibility that you're expected to take so I know what you're asking how long does it take to become a full professor well well there really isn't a set amount of time that it takes to go from C to D or from associate to full Professor but on average most people
• 16:00 - 16:30 reach the rank of full Professor by their mid-40s but that's just an average some people will get there a little earlier for some people it might take a little longer to run the full Gauntlet of the academic hierarchy it usually takes about 20 years after you graduate from a PhD finally this brings us to level E or what would be a distinguished or endowed professor in the United States or Canada to reach this level you must be considered eminent in your discipline a level E academic will have
• 16:30 - 17:00 achieved International recognition for their research over their lifetime they will have also usually made substantial contributions to their community and this can take on many forms this can be like helping out government policy or law enforcement public education the list goes on and on a level E academic or distinguished Professor provides leadership to this school where they help Foster Excellence at every level in terms of research and education it is worth mentioning that both in the United States Canada and Australia there is a
• 17:00 - 17:30 hierarchy within professorships a hierarchy within the hierarchy if you will in other words once you make it to level E you can get other positions you can become a distinguished level E Professor in Australia for example but at that point it's just getting really confusing and nebulous and it tends to vary depending on which university you work at but just know that even once you reach level E or become a distinguished Professor there may be other roles and titles you can accumulate beyond that
• 17:30 - 18:00 keep in mind though that many professors that is level D's or full professors in the United States and Canada may never reach level E or become a distinguished professor and that's fine it's not really mandatory to completing your climb up the hierarchy most will stay at level D or be full professors for their entire career before I wrap up this video there's just a few housekeeping issues I want to talk about for anybody who's trying to navigate this really
• 18:00 - 18:30 crazy system typically you're going to need a PhD in order to enter into that academic hierarchy but this isn't always the case in some disciplines you can be appointed to a higher level position in the hierarchy without a PhD or extend of academic experience sometimes this happens because a master's degree is really all that you need to climb the academic hierarchy in that particular field some people may also be appointed to higher academic positions if they have a lot of relevant experience in
• 18:30 - 19:00 industry or government essentially what this means is that while they don't have a doctor in front of their name they have all of the experience that they need to work as an academic something else to remember if you're looking to apply for promotion usually what's expected if you want to move let's say from level B to level C is that you'll already have been working at a level C even though you're being paid like a level B you basically have to show you already know how to do the job that you
• 19:00 - 19:30 want to apply to be promoted to it's frustrating but that's how it works alright everyone I hope after watching this the Canadian American and Australian academic hierarchies make at least a little bit more sense tell me in the comments below where are you in the academic hierarchy how long did you spend at each level and how much did it make you want to rip your hair out as always if you found this video helped helps like share and subscribe and don't s video I do explaining the crazy world
• 19:30 - 20:00 of Academia [Music] [Applause] [Music]