Pathway to professorship

PROFESSORS are an integral part of the country’s higher education sector.

They groom the next generation of leaders and thinkers, guiding young talents and budding academics to steer the nation towards a knowledge-based economy.

But the path to becoming a professor is one that is paved with strict requirements and stringent processes.

Educationist Tan Sri Dr T. Marimuthu described the current selection criteria as an extremely rigorous process – a necessity if we are to produce quality professors.

Obtaining a professorship is much stricter today than it was in the 1970s and 1980s, he shared.

“When I joined Universiti Malaya (UM) in the 70s, I applied to become a professor but was only selected the second time around – the process was already strict back then.“Universities would select only their best for the post.“

At the time, we could only apply for the post if there was a vacancy and this mostly happened when a professor retired, not when one was promoted.

“Today, only academics who successfully pass an even tougher selection process is appointed so we can be certain that the individual is well-qualified and equipped with the experience and knowledge that is comparable to their international counterparts,” the UM former professor of education told StarEdu.

Becoming a professor is a long journey, one which begins with an academic starting off as a junior lecturer before making the way up the ranks.

According to National Professors Council (MPN) vice president Prof Dr Kamaruddin M. Said, at least 20 professors would evaluate each candidate for professorship.

They would also be subjected to an interview at the departmental level, followed by the faculty, before being assessed by their peers at the university level.

They would then have to sit through an interview comprising a panel of eight assessors – three of whom are external international academics.Prof Marimuthu, however, suggested shortening the selection procedure but without compromising the quality of applicants.

This, he said, is necessary because by the time academics clear the entire selection process and receive the professor title, they would be nearing retirement (see infographic).

MPN president Prof Datuk Dr Raduan Che Rose noted that most academics are only made professors when they are 50, leaving them with just about a decade to serve in that capacity before mandatory retirement sets in.

“If some stages in the selection process can be removed, younger academics can be appointed to the post,” Prof Marimuthu offered.