Impact of external agencies on the development of professional identity among professionals working at Spanish universities

Abstract

Neoliberal policies worldwide have shaped higher education systems, where regulations dictate the working environment. In the Spanish context, ANECA (Agencia Nacional de Evaluación de la Calidad y Acreditación/National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation) is an external evaluation agency that determines the accreditation of the role of teaching staff working at public universities. This agency has established a system of three professional roles followed by 50 state universities, offering a progressive pathway towards a permanent position, including postdoc positions. These roles and postdoc positions are developed as a successive path that could lead to a permanent position. Through a qualitative narrative study employing semi-structured interviews, this research explores the perceptions of professional identity among 18 university teachers. This purposefully selected staff is working in each of the three existing roles, as they strive for a permanent position in a Spanish state university. The findings reveal a sense of discomfort among the participants due to the constant demands for accountability in publishing, which requires significant effort. In summary, the participants express a desire for long-term vocational and work-life stability, which often comes at the expense of feeling empowered in their personal career development. The life narratives of early career professionals provide a unique perspective of a highly competitive system on the professional identity development of higher education teachers.