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An assessment of the first “scientific habilitation” for university appointments in Italy

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  • Giovanni Abramo
  • Ciriaco D’Angelo

Abstract

Nations with non-competitive higher education systems and with high levels of corruption, are more exposed to phenomena of discrimination and favoritism in faculty recruitment. Italy is a case in point, as shown by empirical studies, judicial reports and media attention. Governments have intervened repeatedly to reduce the problem, with scarce success. The 2010 reforms to the university recruitment system provided that access to the ranks of associate and full professor would now be possible only through an initial “scientific habilitation” to be awarded by sectorial committees of national experts. The objective of this work is to analyze the relationship of the recent habilitation procedure outcomes to the actual scientific merit of the various candidates, as well as to other variables that are explicative of possible practices of favoritism and discrimination. The analyses identify the presence of potential cases of discrimination and favoritism. Copyright Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Giovanni Abramo & Ciriaco D’Angelo, 2015. "An assessment of the first “scientific habilitation” for university appointments in Italy," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 32(3), pages 329-357, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:epolit:v:32:y:2015:i:3:p:329-357
    DOI: 10.1007/s40888-015-0016-9
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    2. Marzolla, Moreno, 2016. "Assessing evaluation procedures for individual researchers: The case of the Italian National Scientific Qualification," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 408-438.

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    Keywords

    Research evaluation; Recruitment; Bibliometrics; Italy; I230; O380;
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