Formative socialization processes of academic staff in Mexico

Abstract

This study identifies relevant aspects of the formative socialization of academics in Mexico, assessing the extent to which it enables them to perform as such. Rest in two sources of information. First, the secondary analysis of a database built on a representative national sample of teachers, which included 3,861 teachers from 65 different institutions of higher education IES. Second, the accomplishment of 34 interviews to academic personnel of 8 different institutions. The results indicate that a high proportion of the teaching staff shows little geographic and interinstitutional mobility, which is associated with the tendency of HEIs to hire their own graduates. It was found that the socialization during the degree has been the most significant influence to start academic career, although it tended to be individual, informal and non-sequential, about 60% of teachers start their academic career immediately after finishing their degree . However, 57% of teachers increased their educational level (school mobility), once they were incorporated into academic life. Nearly 50% of the professors who initiated studies on the impact of international trends and national policies at the federal and institutional level, aimed at HEI staff.