The recruitment process is long, searching and comprehensive; the competition is strong for places.
US chemical engineering staff come from many disciplines - 34% do not have chemical engineering degrees, c.f. 24% in the UK.
Generally US staff are highly mobile, both before they attain a tenure-track position by moving to different departments at each stage, but also once in place, they will attend many conferences, and give many talks around the US and elsewhere.
The majority of new US appointees will do a year-long postdoc in a different discipline from their Ph.D. Note that very few in the US will do this postdoc in a chemical engineering department, whereas the majority will in the UK. In addition, the UK non chemical engineers tend to do postdoctoral work in the same area as their Ph.D.
Staff are well supported by starter packages from their universities, which consist of equipment, student support, and summer salary. The total value is about $235K (US-wide average), but was generally higher in the departments we visited. In addition, there are competitive NSF ‘Career’ awards, further competitive ‘Presidential Early Career’ awards, and support from industry. These can add up to $500K or more over five years.
Chemical engineering staff are paid industry-comparable salaries for their qualifications, whereas in the UK they are estimated to be in the bottom decile for Ph.D.s in industry. US salaries remain flexible throughout the careers of the academics.
Administrative loads are light, teaching is fairly uniformly distributed at one course (undergraduate or postgraduate) per semester. Working weeks claimed, range from about 50 to 80 hours. There are lighter teaching loads for new staff. US staff spend proportionately far more time doing research than UK academics.
US staff are highly motivated to attain visibility quickly through the rigorous tenure system which expects international visibility within six years. They must find up to ten referees willing to validate their work in detail, and this drives them to publish and attend many conferences (4-5 per year) early on in their careers.
Industrial experience does not seem to affect an individuals ability to attract industrial money, and fewer people in both the US and the UK are spending time in industry though there was a greater tendency to have industrial experience in the UK (by a factor of 2 or 3).
US departments are highly democratic in their operation and recruitment processes.