相異於大多數國家的大學教授候選人僅需博士學位，在德國尚需通過「教授備選資格」，後者需耗費六到八年時間、平均年齡為42.3歲，且通常都要再等待數年或許才能被任命為教授；再者，學術人員概分為教授／學術助理，前者僅占13%，具有高度獨立性，而後者的工作性質多屬定期契約、不具獨立性。此使得學術後進的生涯發展長期處於不穩定、晉升路徑時間長，以及教授入職年齡偏高，尤其不利於女性學術人員。為解決前述問題，德國在21世紀初期引進「初級教授制度」，至今該制度在某種程度上已達到改革目標，但仍存在以下問題：一、在聯邦體制下，初級教授在各邦呈現職銜、權責與配套資源迥異的現象。二、期中評鑑可以淘汰不適合從事學術研究者，但淘汰率僅有2%，使其流於形式。三、初級教授的設立主旨是為替代教授備選資格，然而，後者仍為教授候選人的主流，尤其是在人文社會學科領域。四、成為初級教授所需付出的時間與精力遠多於中學教師，但前者最多為六年的定期契約，其薪資僅約等同於實科中學的A14級；更令人詬病者，僅有8%的初級教授逕被原任職的高等學校任命為終身職教授，因此未來初級教授政策的重點已非設置初級教授的數量問題，而是初級教授的出路遠景。

In most countries a doctoral degree is the only essential qualification for consideration for a university teaching position. In Germany, however, until recently, such candidates must also have completed a habilitation degree. Completing the habilitation is a process that takes between six and eight years, by which time the average candidate is 42.3 years old, and even after completion it normally takes a few more years before being appointed. University faculty can generally be divided into teaching faculty and research fellows; the former constitute only about 13 percent of the faculty and have a high degree of autonomy, while the latter are mainly temporary contract employees with little autonomy. Thus, young academics typically have to spend many years developing their careers before they can expect to be considered for a promotion; this is especially true of women. In an effort to address this situation, around the turn of the century, Germany introduced a junior professor system. While this system has indeed succeeded in bringing about a certain degree of reform, a number of problems remain: 1. In Germany’s federal system, there are significant differences between states in terms of the rank of junior professors, as well as in their rights and duties, and in the resources available to them; 2. Although intermediate evaluations are conducted, since the resulting dismissal rate is a mere two percent, it seems that the system is not very effective in weeding out ill-qualified academics; 3. The junior professor system is intended to replace the habilitation system, but the latter doesn’t account for all candidates for teaching positions, especially in the humanities and social sciences; and 4. In comparison to secondary school teachers, the training of junior professors is much more demanding and time-consuming, yet their salary is roughly the same as that of secondary school teachers at the A14 rank, and their contract is limited to a maximum of six years. Worst of all, only eight percent of junior professors end up being appointed to a tenured professorship at the university where they served as junior professors. Thus, the most pressing issue facing the future viability of this system is not the number of junior professors it can accommodate, but rather the extent to which junior professors can expect that their participation in the system will lead to a viable career in academia.