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 values, supports and rewards university teaching achievement. Advancing Teaching is a global initiative to improve the reward of university teaching in academic careers. It works with universities worldwide to support 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
Teaching Cultures Survey
Global survey held in 2019, 2022 and 2025, capturing academics' views on how university teaching is rewarded in academic careers.
Global mapping
A study identifying and exploring global best practices in the support and reward of university teaching in academic careers
Resources
Open-access resources designed to help universities improve how they support and reward university 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
Published: January 2025
Global Mapping
The Global Mapping report explores the evolving landscape of how university teaching is supported, evaluated and rewarded in academic careers across 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 practice handbook, offering universities an actionable guide to address key barriers to change. The study findings emphasise the value of cross-institutional collaboration, unified standards for university teaching and development priorities such as collegiality, educational leadership and flexible career pathways.
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- Sponsor: Global university consortium
- Published: January 2025
- www.advancingteaching.com/mapping/
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
Aimed at institutions planning reform to how they recognise and reward university teaching in academic careers, the Roadmap for Change is designed to help institutions avoid the pitfalls commonly associated with such reforms and to optimise the chances of 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 institutions that have driven change to institutional support and reward systems for university teaching, 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 institutional systems for recognising and rewarding university teaching.
- Sponsor: 4TU Center for Engineering Education, The Netherlands
- Published: May 2019
Published: April 2018
Career Framework
This 5-page document summarises the Career Framework for University Teaching, designed to guide academic career progression on the basis contribution to university teaching
Career Framework for University Teaching
The Career Framework for University Teaching is designed to guide and support the career progression of academics on the basis of their contribution to university teaching. Offering both a structured pathway for academic career progression and an evidence base on which to demonstrate and evaluate achievement in teaching and learning, 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 university teaching?
- what forms of evidence can be used to demonstrate the academic’s achievements in university teaching?
- Sponsor: Royal Academy of Engineering, UK
- Published: April 2018
- www.teachingframework.com