Institutional Control and Defensive Reconstruction: A Study on the Time Allocation of University Faculty under the "Up-or-Out" System

Abstract

As a key measure of personnel reform, the faculty appointment system—particularly the "Up-or-Out" policy—has influenced the professional state and time-allocation logic of teachers. Based on New Institutional-ism and the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this paper examines the economic motivation of this institutional evolution and its micro-effects through interviews with six young faculty members from different universities. The study finds that as a contractual arrangement to solve the principal-agent problem, this system has improved the efficiency of scientific output in the short term through screening mechanisms. However, in localized practice, it has generated alienation due to strong administrative logic. Through mechanisms such as temporal discipline and market logic, the system turns teachers' time from autonomous resources into passive tools," forcing them to form a defensive strategy. This presents a structural imbalance emphasizing research over teaching and short-term gains over long-term goals. Under management characterized by high demands and low resources, teachers face the deprivation of time sovereignty, falling into time poverty and professional burnout. The article proposes a shift from unidirectional screening to bidirectional empowerment. This involves optimizing long-cycle assessment to match the scientific laws, establishing a diversified system to respect individual differences, and improving systemic resource supply to break the high demand and low resource gap, thereby promoting the sustainable development of the academic ecosystem.