The Making of Academic Promotion Decisions: Criteria and Processes

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Abstract
There is increasing recognition of the role of the academic promotion process in institutional reward structures, and of the influence of promotion criteria in guiding the work of academic staff. This study sought to investigate the relative importance of the criteria used in the making of promotion decisions as perceived by senior academics. Social judgement analysis was used to make explicit the bases underlying simulated promotion decisions. The data indicate that teaching and scholarship were important criteria for promotion from lecturer to senior lecturer, but that leadership was more important for promotion from senior to principal lecturer. The implications of these results for institutional policies and practices are discussed and, through an analysis of the nature of the judgements involved in promotion decisions, procedures which may assist decision making by promotion boards are suggested.