Project reports
Reports and materials produced by the Advancing Teaching team. All outputs are open-access and may be adopted and adapted in any way that benefits universities, academics and students
Published: March 2026
Global survey findings
An analysis of three waves of the Teaching Cultures Survey (2019, 2022 and 2025), examining how university teaching is rewarded in academic careers across participating universities
Insights from three waves of the Teaching Cultures Survey
The report offers a global picture of how university teaching is valued and rewarded at institutions working to strengthen recognition of university teaching in academic career progression. It captures academics’ views and experiences of how university teaching is supported, valued and rewarded within their institutions, providing insight into how reform efforts are embedded and experienced in practice. Drawing on findings from the 2019, 2022 and 2025 surveys, the analysis also examines how perceptions have shifted over time as reforms to academic career pathways and promotion processes have been introduced.
In 2025, 17 research-intensive universities spanning nine countries and four continents took part in the Teaching Cultures Survey. A total of 12,071 academics participated in the 2025 survey, representing all career stages from PhD students to university presidents. Participating universities included King’s College London, Utrecht University, the University of British Columbia and the University of New South Wales.
Full report details and citation information available at https://teachingcultures.com/Findings/2025/
- Sponsor: Participating universities
- Published: March 2026
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
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
Published: April 2018
Development of the Framework
The report provides background information on the design and development of the Career Framework for University Teaching
The Career Framework for University Teaching: background and overview
Published in April 2018, the report provides background on the Career Framework for University Teaching, describing how and why it was developed and how it has been applied in practice. It describes the 15 universities that piloted the Framework and the feedback used to refine its focus and design. Case studies illustrate how the Framework was used in practice at the time of publication to inform change at universities and across higher education systems worldwide; its use has since expanded further.
- Sponsor: Royal Academy of Engineering, UK
- Published: April 2018
Published: October 2022
Teaching Cultures Survey: 2022 findings
This report outlines key findings from the 2022 Teaching Cultures Survey, charting changes in academics' views since 2019.
Teaching Cultures Survey: 2022 findings
The Teaching Cultures Survey 2022 is the second of three cross-sectional surveys designed to capture and track the culture and status of teaching within universities worldwide.
This report highlights consolidated findings from the 16 universities across eight countries that participated in the Teaching Cultures Survey 2022, including three new institutions that joined the survey for this run (11,614 academics in total). The report focuses on the ways in which survey findings have changed over time, between 2019 and 2022. The 2022 survey comes in the wake of an extended period of ‘emergency teaching’ across the higher education sector prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Published: October 2022
- www.teachingcultures.com
Framework graphics
All graphics used in the Career Framework for University Teaching are open source and can be used and adapted in any form to support the reward and evaluation of university teaching worldwide. The following three graphics can be downloaded below as pdfs with editable text.
Promotion criteria
Pyramid graphic outlining the promotion criteria for each level of the Framework
Spheres of influence
Graphic showing the spheres of influence corresponding to each level of the Framework
Evidence table
Table outlining examples of evidence that could be used at each Framework level
When using the graphics, we would be grateful if you could include a link the Advancing Teaching or Career Framework websites as a source for background information.
Video archive
Provided below is a series of short videos that introduce ongoing projects of the Advancing Teaching initiative and highlight the activities and experiences of members of this global network
Please find below a short introduction to the videos that will be available here in the coming weeks. A series of webinars will be held at different time zones from June 2020 which will build upon the information and updates provided in these videos.
Advancing Teaching: the initiative and the Framework
This set of videos introduces the Advancing Teaching initiative. The first video provides a timeline and outline of the Advancing Teaching activities; the second introduces the Career Framework for University Teaching; and the third brings together feedback on how the Framework has been used in practice.
Outline of the Advancing Teaching Initiative
Career Framework for University Teaching
Using the Framework in practice
National collaborations
This set of videos showcases five countries that have established, or are in the process of establishing, national collaborations to reform university reward and recognition systems. Although each takes a different approach, all incorporate a major focus on improving the evaluation and reward of university teaching.
Introduction
Sweden
Malaysia
Denmark
Norway
Netherlands
Well-regarded university reward systems
A number of universities in the Advancing Teaching network have already implemented systemic reform to their academic reward and recognition systems. The videos below provide an overview of three that have been particularly influential, from: UCL (UK), the University of Wollongong (Australia) and Lund University (Sweden).
UCL (UK)
University of Wollongong (Australia)
Lund University (Sweden)
Institutional processes to support change
Improving the status and reward of university teaching achievement is not only tackled through reforming academic career pathways. Changes to broader institutional processes – such as to professional development systems or annual appraisals – are critical to achieving successful and sustainable change. The videos below highlight three examples of new institutional processes that are being used to support wider change to university reward systems.
Evaluating teaching
The Teaching Excellence System at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia to capture and track academics' teaching achievements
Leadership development
Senior Fellow Programme at Utrecht University to advance the development of educational leadership
Mentorship
Mentorship programme offered by academics rewarded through Umeå University's pedagogical career framework
Facilitators and barriers to change
This set of videos provides insights and advice from individuals that have led and supported systemic reform to university reward systems. Focusing on the change process, the videos consider in turn: (i) lessons learnt from universities that had designed and delivered new systems of reward and recognition, both successfully and unsuccessfully; (ii) the key challenges faced in the process of change; and (iii) the anticipated impact of Covid-19 on the global momentum for change to the reward and recognition of university teaching.
Lessons learnt
Challenges faced
Impact of Covid-19
Teaching Cultures Survey: 2019 findings
Findings from the 2019 Teaching Cultures Survey – from across 15,659 academics at 21 universities in 10 countries – were released in May 2020. The videos below provide an overview of the survey findings and offer perspectives from two participating universities: Radboud University in the Netherlands and the University of Auckland in New Zealand.
Overview of survey
Introduction to the Teaching Cultures Survey and overview of the combined 2019 findings
Radboud University
Feedback from Prof. Han van Krieken, Rector Magnificus at Radboud University
University of Auckland
Feedback from Prof. Graeme Aitken, Director of Educational Initiatives, University of Auckland
2020 webinars
The 2020 Advancing Teaching meeting was due to be held in the Trippenhuis (the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) in Amsterdam (see original agenda here). However, due to Covid-19, this meeting did not take place. As an alternative to the in-person meeting, a series of videos of the activities and progress of network members were produced in late 2020 and two webinars were held in November 2020. Please find further details of the videos and the webinar outcomes below.