This handbook captures and describes the key stages in academic careers in Protestant theology, law, medicine, higher education, engineering, and chemistry. The first part describes the development of careers and their legal, social and organizational formation. This is followed by a comparison at different levels, which on the one hand shows the importance of an individual career in relation to the others and on the other hand offers approaches that can be used to explain similarities and differences in career developments. The second part provides individual career data in tables and graphics, which are closely related to a database accessible via the Internet, in which further data can be found and used for your own research.