Paper short abstract:

Coherent narrative stories based on 14 narrative biographical interviews with young researchers vividly describe disciplinary, institutional differences related to excellence polices, and the evolution of such policies that is uneven and produces different results in different settings.

Paper long abstract:

This paper intended for presentation uses 14 narrative biographical interviews with young researchers from different disciplines and fields. The research was framed with the goal of gathering and analyzing narratives related to career advancement and personal development in different institutional and disciplinary settings within Croatian academic system. The main intention related to research question was, through researching the most vulnerable population within the system - younger researchers, to understand how changes in science and higher education polices influence disciplinary and institutional cultures. Interviews are guided in narrative mode, gathering oral history related to professional development of respondents ranging from their high school interests to present date competencies and future aspirations. Respondents have spontaneously told their life-history stories of their research development by highlighting events important in their own view, describing their institutional and disciplinary environment(s) and therefore giving us a context at different stages of their careers. Narrative data that consists of actions, events, and happenings is analysed for every interview with the focus on discourse related to excellence and polices of advancement in career in order to produce coherent stories. These coherent stories vividly describe disciplinary and institutional differences related to excellence polices, but also the evolution of such policies that is uneven and produces different results in different settings.