Études sur la profession universitaire
Studies on the Academic Profession
Projet sur les défis actuels et futurs de la profession universitaire
The Current and Future Challenges in the Academic Profession Project (Future-AP)
Responsables
Olivier Bégin Caouette (Université de Montréal) et Grace Karram (University of Toronto)
Contexte
Le projet international sur les défis actuels et futurs de la profession universitaire Future-AP s’inscrit dans la continuité des grandes enquêtes comparatives internationales sur la profession universitaire (Carnegie, CAP, APIKS), mais dans un contexte encore plus marqué par l’incertitude et les transformations rapides de l’enseignement supérieur. Le projet émerge dans des mutations géospatiales, la numérisation des activités académiques, la montée des logiques de performance et de compétition, ainsi que par des changements importants dans les carrières universitaires (précarisation, diversification des statuts, pressions accrues liées à la recherche et à l’enseignement). À cela s’ajoutent des défis récents, comme les conséquences de la pandémie de COVID-19, et des mouvements sociaux qui remettent en question certains principes qui guident l’enseignement supérieur, dont la liberté académique.
Objectifs
Dans ce contexte, l’objectif principal du projet Future‑AP est d’anticiper et de mieux comprendre les évolutions à venir. Plus précisément, il vise à analyser comment les transformations en cours, technologiques, organisationnelles, économiques et sociales, influencent les trajectoires de carrière, les conditions de travail, les rôles et les identités des universitaires. Avec la participation de plus de 40 équipes de recherche à travers le monde (dont le Canada), l’étude cherche également à identifier les tendances émergentes, les risques et les opportunités pour la profession, afin d’éclairer les politiques publiques et les stratégies institutionnelles. À travers une approche comparative internationale, Future‑AP ambitionne ainsi non seulement de documenter les changements actuels, mais aussi de projeter les formes que pourrait prendre la profession académique dans les années à venir, en mettant en lumière les convergences globales et les variations selon les contextes nationaux et institutionnels.
Études menées dans le cadre de ce projet
[à venir]
Leads
Olivier Bégin Caouette (Université de Montréal) and Grace Karram (University of Toronto)
Context
The international project Current and Future Challenges in the Academic Profession (Future-AP) builds on the tradition of major international comparative studies of the academic profession (Carnegie, CAP, APIKS), but in a context even more strongly shaped by uncertainty and rapid transformations in higher education. The project emerges amid geospatial shifts, the digitization of academic activities, the rise of performance and competition driven logics, and significant changes in academic careers (increased precarity, diversification of statuses, and growing pressures related to research and teaching). These developments are compounded by recent challenges, such as the consequences of the COVID 19 pandemic, as well as social movements that call into question some of the principles guiding higher education, aacademic freedom.
Objectives
In this context, the main objective of the Future AP project is to anticipate and better understand future developments in the academic profession. More specifically, it seeks to analyze how ongoing technological, organizational, economic, and social transformations are shaping career trajectories, working conditions, roles, and identities of academics. With the participation of more than 40 research teams worldwide (including Canada), the study also aims to identify emerging trends, risks, and opportunities for the profession, in order to inform public policy and institutional strategies. Through a comparative international approach, Future AP aims not only to document current changes, but also to project what the academic profession may look like in the years to come, highlighting both global convergences and national and institutional variations.
Studies conducted within this project
[coming soon]
Projet sur la profession universitaire dans la société du savoir (APIKS)
The Academic Profession in the Knowledge Society Project (APIKS)
Chercheur principal
Glen A. Jones (University of Toronto)
Cochercheurs
Olivier Bégin-Caouette (Université de Montréal), Amy Scott Metcalfe (University of British Colombia) et Grace Karram (University of Toronto)
Contexte
Le projet international sur La profession universitaire dans la société du savoir (APIKS), mené entre 2014 et 2024, s’inscrit en continuité avec le projet sur les Transformations de la profession universitaire (Changing Academic Profession, CAP), mené entre 2004 et 2014, et le projet International Survey of the Academic Profession, mené par la Fondation Carnegie au début des années 1990.
La massification des études, l’internationalisation croissante des universités, le développement de l’économie du savoir ainsi que l’introduction de modes de gouvernance plus managériaux ont profondément modifié les conditions d’exercice de la profession universitaire. Ces évolutions se traduisent notamment par une diversification des missions (enseignement, recherche, service), une intensification du travail, une pression accrue à la performance et une remise en question de certaines caractéristiques traditionnelles de la profession, comme l’autonomie et la collégialité.
Objectifs
Dans ce contexte, l’objectif principal d’APIKS est de mieux comprendre, de manière comparative et empirique, comment la profession académique se redéfinit dans la « société de la connaissance ». Ce projet vise à analyser les conditions de travail, les pratiques professionnelles, les valeurs et les perceptions des universitaires, ainsi que les modes de gouvernance dans lesquels ils évoluent. Grâce à une enquête menée dans 20 juridictions, APIKS permet de comparer les systèmes d’enseignement supérieur et de mettre en lumière à la fois les convergences globales et les spécificités nationales dans l’évolution de la profession académique.
Financement
Subvention Savoir du Conseil de recherche en sciences humaines du Canada (2019-2022)
Fonds de recherche et d’innovation en capital humain de l’Ontario (2017-2018).
Pour en savoir plus
https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/hec/academic-work/academic-profession-study
Principal Investigator
Glen A. Jones (University of Toronto)
Co-Investigators
Olivier Bégin-Caouette (Université de Montréal), Amy Scott Metcalfe (University of British Colombia) and Grace Karram (University of Toronto)
Context
The international project The Academic Profession in the Knowledge Society (APIKS), conducted between 2014 and 2024, builds on the Changing Academic Profession (CAP) project (2004–2014) and the International Survey of the Academic Profession, led by the Carnegie Foundation in the early 1990s.
Massification in higher education, increasing internationalization of universities, the development of the knowledge economy, and the introduction of more managerial governance models have profoundly transformed the conditions under which the academic profession is practiced. These changes are reflected in the diversification of academic missions (teaching, research, service), an intensification of work, increased performance pressures, and the questioning of traditional features of the profession, such as autonomy and collegiality.
Objectives
In this context, the main objective of APIKS is to better understand, through comparative and empirical analysis, how the academic profession is being redefined in the “knowledge society.” The project aims to analyze working conditions, professional practices, values, and perceptions of academics, as well as the governance contexts in which they operate. Based on a survey conducted across 20 jurisdictions, APIKS enables comparisons among higher education systems and highlights both global convergences and national specificities in the evolution of the academic profession.
Funding
Insight Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2019-2022)
Ontario Human Capital Research and Innovation Fund (2017-2018).
More Information
https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/hec/academic-work/academic-profession-study
Publications
Bégin-Caouette, O., Aarrevaara, T., Rose, A.-L., & Arimoto, A. (2023). Collaboration practices and outcomes: A comparative analysis of academics’ international research activities. In Çalıkoğlu, A., Jones, G.A, & Kim, Y. (Eds.), Internationalization and the Academic Profession: Comparative Perspectives (pp. 191-215). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26995-0
Bégin-Caouette, O., Béland, S., Karram Stephenson, G., Jones, G.A. et Scott Metcalfe, A. (2024). Academic work and institutional diversity in Canada: Findings form the APIKS study. McGill Journal of Education, 58(2). https://doi.org/10.26443/mje/rsem.v58i2.10063
Bégin-Caouette, O., Béland, S., Pelletier, L., Nakano, S.M., Karram Stephenson, G., Jones, G.A., & Scott Metcalfe, A. (2026). Individual, Institutional and Systemic Factors Contributing to Academic Research Production: Comparing Traditional and Multilevel Models. Quantitative Science Studies. https://doi.org/10.1162/QSS.a.458
Bégin-Caouette, O., Benhassine, E., Béland, S. et Sivlia Mirlene, N. K. (2026). Global competitive dynamics and the academic profession: An exploration of the mediating effects of jurisdictions’ context. Dans F. Huang, G.A. Jones et U. Teichler (dir.) The Shifting Balance of Academic Systems: National, Regional, Global? (pp 265-291). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-17936-4_13
Bégin-Caouette, O., Jones, G.A., Karram Stephenson, G. et Scott Metcalfe, A. (2021). Canada: The role of the university sector in national research and development. In F. Huang, Aarrevaara, T. et G.A. Jones (dir.), Universities in the Knowledge Society: The Emerging Nexus of National Systems of Innovation and Higher Education (pp. 375-392). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76579-8_21
Girouard-Gagné, M., Deschênes, N., Bégin-Caouette, O., Jones, G.A., Metcalfe, A. et Karram Stephenson, G. (2025). Les déterminants de l’innovation pédagogique à l’enseignement universitaire : exploration initiale des facteurs pour une pédagogie variée et active. Revue des sciences de l’éducation de McGill, 59(2), 143-168. https://doi.org/10.26443/mje/rsem.v59i2.10149
Karram Stephenson, G., Jones, G.A., Bégin-Caouette, O., Scott Metcalfe, A. (2020). Teaching, research and the Canadian professoriate: Findings from the 2018 APIKS survey. Higher Education Forum, 17(3), 25-41. http://doi.org/10.15027/48953
Karram Stephenson, G., Jones, G. A., Bégın-caouette, O. et Metcalfe, A.S. (2022). Professors and Internationalization in Canada: Academic Disciplines and Global Activities. Yükseköğretim Dergisi, 12 (Suppl.), 14-23. https://doi.org/10.2399/yod.22.202202
Karram, G., Jones, G.A., Bégin-Caouette, O., Metcalfe, A.S. (2025). The Paradox of Increasing Managerialism amid Historic Decentralization: Canadian Professors and University Governance. Dans Leišytė, L., Marquina, M., Jones, G. A. (dir.), University Governance, Management and the Academic Profession. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-86889-4_5
Karram Stephenson, G., & McGinn, M. K. (dir.) (2021). Professors in Canada: Experiences of the Academic Life—A Special Issue. Brock Education, 30(2), 6-136. https://journals.library.brocku.ca/brocked/index.php/home/issue/view/43
Karram Stephenson, G, Jones, G. A., Bégin-Caouette, O., Metcalfe, A., and Toor, A. (2017). Responding to Change, Assessing Difference: A Review of the Literature on Professors at Canadian Universities. CIHE Report 2017.03 to the Ontario Human Capital and Innovation Research Fund. OISE (University of Toronto). https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/home/document/3908
Karram Stephenson, G., Jones, G.A., Fick, E., Bégin-Caouette, O., Taiyeb, A. et Metcalfe, A. (2019). What’s the protocol? Canadian university research ethics boards and variations in implementing Tri-council policy. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 50(1), 67-81. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.v50i1.188743.
Karram Stephenson, G., Nakano Koga, S.M., Jefferson, A., Bégin-Caouette, O., Béland, S., Jones, G.A. et Scott Metcalfe, A. (2022). Canadian Universities and Incentives for Teaching or Research: Institutional Oversight and Supports. Dans Huang, F., Aarrevaara, T. et Teichler, U. (dir.), Teaching and Research in the Knowledge Society: Historical and Comparative Perspectives (pp. 33-52). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-04439-7_3
Karram Stephenson, G., Pekşen, S., Reznik, N., Manatos, M. J., et Chen, R. J. C. (2023). Internationalisation activities: The influence of governance and management models in Argentina, Canada, Lithuania, Portugal, and Taiwan. Dans Çalıkoğlu, A., Jones, G.A., Kim, Y. (dir.), Internationalization and the Academic Profession: Comparative perspectives (pp. 37-65). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26995-0_3
Lefebvre, M.-E., Maltais, É., Bégin-Caouette, O., Jones, G.A., Karram Stephenson, G. et Scott Metcalfe, A. (2023). The Correspondence between Canadian University Professors’ Sociodemographic Characteristics and their Collaboration and Co-Authoring of Publications with International Colleagues. Comparative and International Education, 51(2). https://doi.org/10.5206/cie-eci.v51i2.14370
Pelletier, L., Bégin-Caouette, O., Karram Stephenson, G., Jones, G.A. & Scott Metcalfe, A. (2023). Studying the gender gap in academic research production among Canadian university professors using the multilevel approach to gender inequalities framework. Studies in Higher Education, 49(6), 1066-1081. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2258167.
Nakano Koga, S. M., Beaupré-Lavallée, A., Bégin-Caouette, O. (2021). Accountability Measures in Higher Education and Academic Workload: A Ten-year Comparison. Brock Education, 30(2), 116-136. https://doi.org/10.26522/brocked.v3012.872
Schneijderberg, C., Götze, N., Jones, G.A., Karram, G. (2021). Does Vertical University Stratification Foster or Hinder Academics’ Societal Engagement? Findings from Canada, Germany, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Higher Education Policy, 34, 66–87. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-020-00219-5
Zambo Assembé, E. S., Bégin-Caouette, O. et Nakano Koga, S. M. (2025). Le corps professoral québécois. Dans O. Bégin-Caouette, E. Maltais, J. Bernatchez, J. Luckerhoff, M. Maltais et M. Umbriaco. (dir). L’université au Québec. Enjeux et défis (pp. 273-300). Les Publications du LIRES. https://www.erudit.org/fr/livres/lires/luniversite-au-quebec/864li.pdf
Zhao, X., Karram, G. L., Jones, G. A., Bégin-Caouette, O., et Scott Metcalfe, A. (2025). The Impact of International Academic Mobility on Research Collaboration and Production: Findings from the 2018 APIKS survey of Canadian Professors. Higher Education Policy. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41307-025-00424-0