The traffic light would like to approve a reform in March to improve working conditions in universities. Leave the controversial points to Parliament.

Stay in academia or work somewhere else? Graduates of the University of Bonn Photo: Jakob Studnar/Funke Photo Services/imago

SEDAN taz | Sara Kunze is an extremely qualified scientist. The English student recently completed her habilitation. Her publication list includes more than 20 entries. She and she have already raised almost half a million euros in third-party funding, an impressive sum in the humanities. However, Kunze, at 44, is still waiting for a permanent position.

His most recent substitute professorship expired in October. Since then, the Shakespeare expert has been living on unemployment benefits. In order not to lose the teaching qualification that he acquired with his qualification, he has to give unpaid lectures. “I hope to be appointed to a permanent professorship soon,” says Kunze. She describes his chances as a “lottery game.”

For good reason. In addition to the relatively few professorships, there are almost no permanent positions for researchers at German universities. Only 8 percent of “young scientists” under 45 currently have a permanent position. Everyone else, on the other hand, has to accept precarious working conditions for many years before becoming lifelong teachers.

This also applies to English student Sara Kunze, who would prefer that her real name not be published due to the ongoing appeal process. Since she finished her doctorate, she has already had twelve contracts at various universities, often the duration was only six months. “Of course, it doesn't involve any life planning,” she says.

One year of paralysis

In its coalition agreement, the traffic light promised to improve working conditions at universities. Among other things, he would like to introduce minimum contractual conditions for doctoral students (two years) and postdocs (three years) for the first time, even though these requirements are not legally binding. The federal Minister of Education, Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP), presented the key points of the reform a year ago. But the SPD, the Greens and the FDP still do not agree on the difficult questions. Above all, how long researchers will be allowed to work for a given period in the future.

The Scientific Temporary Contracts Act (WissZeitVG) currently allows fixed-term employment contracts for a total of twelve years: six before and six after the doctorate. Under Stark-Watzinger's plans, the maximum duration of the fixed-term contract should be ten years in the future; An extension for another two years should only be possible with a fixed commitment to adhere to the contract. Concretely, this would mean that researchers who have already completed their PhD should be granted a permanent position after only four years in the so-called postdoctoral phase, unless at that time they receive confirmation of a subsequent permanent position.

This “4+2 model” is the reform path preferred by universities. In response to a taz question, the Federal Ministry of Education (BMBF) stated that the model offers “a good balance for the fixed-term contract after the doctorate” that takes into account “both different subject cultures and different career paths in science.” ” and “a suitable one in case of parole offers a permanent position.” From the point of view of the BMBF, a further general reduction of the maximum duration of fixed-term employment would not do justice to this situation.

However, for the SPD and the Greens the permanent extension comes too late. Like the Left Party and the unions, they demand that those affected receive clarity about their professional future much sooner. They also want the rate freeze currently in place to be lifted and for employees to be able to fight for better working conditions with the help of unions, if necessary.

Not only the coalition partners are dissatisfied

It is even more notable that the SPD-led Labor Ministry has given the green light to the Stark-Watzinger model despite previous objections. As several media outlets unanimously reported on Sunday, the cabinet should decide on the reform in March, essentially in line with the original Stark-Watzinger bill from last summer. Or put another way: since the ministries have not reached an agreement, they leave the task to Parliament. A corresponding note in the cabinet decision should direct parliamentarians to examine the controversial points. Because the SPD and the Greens do not agree at all with the current government draft.

“There is still no talk of an agreement,” said Green Bundestag member Laura Kraft in Deutschlandfunk on Monday. There are still “some points that need to be improved.” This includes the maximum duration of the fixed-term contract and the time of connection confirmation. SPD politician Carolin Wagner made a similar statement when asked by her. The stated goal of the WissZeitVG reform is “an earlier perspective on a permanent employment relationship,” Wagner said. This planning capacity is essential for the future of the labor market in the scientific sector. For this reason, the SPD “has not yet been able to approve the project.”.

Those affected also depend on stable coalition partners: “This is not a reform or an improvement, but rather a catastrophe for Germany as a scientific location,” writes a doctoral researcher from Frankfurt (Oder) in “X”. “I hope this fails in parliament.” The Network for Good Work in Science (NGAWiss) calls on the SPD and the Greens: “Don't give in now!” The network fears that the planned 4+2 regulation will not lead to more permanent contracts, but will simply put pressure on researchers: increase within.

After all, there is already an average interval of 3.5 years between the end of the special mandate and appointment to a professorship. This gap, warns Mathias Kuhnt of NGAWiss, is now even larger. Many researchers are currently turning to third-party funding contracts (which are exempt from WissZeitVG) or, like English student Sara Kunze, receiving unemployment benefits. She also believes: “What the traffic lights have decided here will not lead to more permanent jobs.”

The housewives are pressuring you

A statement from the Conference of University Presidents (HRK) shows that this assessment is quite realistic: “The expectation of a subsequent commitment, which politicians now link to the '4+2' model, is not seen by universities as convenient or realistic. “he says on request. Even an earlier confirmation of affiliation would not generate more jobs, according to the HRK: “More permanent positions… require more permanent funds for the basic financing of the universities.”

The federal government, for its part, considers that universities have a duty. On Tuesday, a spokesperson said this was “the responsibility of universities in their role as employers”. But the Bundestag will not make it so easy for the traffic lights. In October, the Budget Committee asked Stark-Watzinger to present a concept for expanding permanent academic positions in addition to professorships, which by the way was also a traffic light promise.