Overview

Universities across the world are striving to enhance the quality of the student experience; central to this mission is the establishment of an academic culture that celebrates, rewards and supports teaching achievement. Advancing Teaching is a global initiative to improve the reward of university teaching in academic careers. It is working with universities across the world to support and inform change to academic career pathways and institutional systems of evaluation and reward.

Career Framework

A framework to guide and support the career progression of academics on the basis of their contribution to teaching and learning

Faculty survey

Global survey of 28 universities to capture faculty experiences and views on how teaching is rewarded in academic careers

Global mapping

A study identifying and exploring global best practices in how universities evaluate, support and reward teaching


Resources

Open-access resources designed to help universities improve how they support and reward teaching in academic careers

Community meetings

Annual face-to-face meetings bringing together those designing and leading change to academic reward systems worldwide

About

Information on the goals and focus of the Advancing Teaching initiative, the community it supports, and its timeline of activities

Key project reports

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Published: January 2025

Global Mapping

The Global Mapping report explores the evolving landscape of how university teaching is supported, evaluated and rewarded in universities worldwide

Rewarding teaching in academic careers: mapping the global movement for change

The Global Mapping report explores the evolving global landscape of how university teaching is supported, evaluated and rewarded within academic careers. It draws on interviews with over 130 leaders and change-makers from 26 countries who are actively engaged in reshaping reward systems in their university/region.

The review charts the institutional, national, and cross-national initiatives reshaping academic career advancement. It also provides a best practices handbook, offering universities an actionable guide to address key barriers to change. The study findings emphasise the value of cross-institutional collaboration, unified teaching standards, and development priorities such as collegiality, educational leadership, and flexible career pathways.

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  • Sponsor: Global universoty consortium
  • Published: January 2025
  • www.advancingteaching.com/mapping/
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Published: May 2019

Roadmap for Change

Based on a review of past initiatives to reform university academic pathways, this report offers information on the key steps in the process of change and the challenges often encountered

A Roadmap for Change

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Aimed at universities considering making changes to the way they recognise and reward teaching achievement, the Roadmap for Change is designed to help institutions avoid the pitfalls commonly associated with such reforms and to optimise the chances of a successful and sustainable change.

The Roadmap offers insight into how the process of reform might be planned and implemented. It draws on the experiences of universities that have engaged in changing institutional support and reward systems for teaching achievement, and is informed by in-depth interviews with individuals who played a key role in designing and delivering institutional reform at these universities. Based on these expert views, the Roadmap identifies strategies associated with successful changes to university systems for recognising and rewarding teaching.

  • Sponsor: 4TU Center for Engineering Education, The Netherlands
  • Published: May 2019
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Published: April 2018

Career Framework

This 5 page document summarises the Career Framework for University Teaching, designed to guide and support academic career progression on the basis of teaching achivement

Career Framework for University Teaching

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The Career Framework for University Teaching is designed to guide and support the career progression of academics on the basis of their contribution to teaching and learning. Offering both a structured pathway for academic career progression and an evidence base on which to demonstrate and evaluate teaching achievement, the Framework provides a resource that universities can adapt to their academic career structures and progression points. It can be used at each stage of the academic career, including appointment, professional development, appraisal and promotion

This five-page summary of the Framework is designed for use by academics seeking appointment, professional development and/or promotion. It can also be used by managers reviewing or evaluating appointment/appraisal/promotion cases. The document is structured around the three key questions that underpin each level of the Framework:

  • what is the academic’s sphere of impact in their teaching and learning activities?
  • what promotion criteria define the academic’s achievements in teaching and learning?
  • what forms of evidence can be used to demonstrate the academic’s teaching achievements?
  • Sponsor: Royal Academy of Engineering, UK
  • Published: April 2018
  • www.teachingframework.com