Fragmented career paths in higher education: downward spiral for quality of education in Germany and Sweden - GEW and SULF denounce
EI/ETUCE affiliates GEW (German Education and Research Workers’ Union) and SULF (Swedish Association of University Teachers) joined in cooperation to fight for quality education and decent working conditions in higher education at the 5th Follow-up Congress on the Templin Manifesto of GEW held on 2 April 2014 in Berlin, Germany.
The Follow-up Congress fully connected GEW’s campaign for decent working conditions and reliable career prospects in higher education and research (Templin Manifesto) to the EI/ETUCE initiative Unite for Quality Education.
The Congress welcomed the participation of SULF’s General Secretary Git Claesson Pipping. Her address to the Congress triggered a shared commitment to denounce the situation researchers are experiencing in both countries. The extensive use of fixed term contracts in higher education is significantly deteriorating working conditions of researchers. It is no surprise then that most researchers and higher education employees, particularly women, leave the academic system because of fragmented career paths and lack of predictability on their future.
On that same occasion, Andreas Keller, Vice-President of GEW and Vice-President of ETUCE announced closer cooperation between GEW and SULF in the future to tackle the problem and demand real changes. GEW’s actions for decent working condition and reliable career prospects in higher education and research (at the core of the Templin manifesto since 2010) are led by the deep belief that this lack of options for many researchers negatively affects quality of research and teaching.
