How long the curse of bad education remains in academic career? It is understandable if considering the educational record (where s/he has studied and how is his/her transcript) of an applicant applied for junior academic positions such as postdoctoral fellow or assistant professor. BUT, for senior academics, the factors for judging a potential full professor is his/her research, teaching, publications, and other academic achievements.

I read in a few job ads for full professors in Europe (mainly Scandinavia), one of the application materials is unofficial transcripts. It seems that the initial review is substantially based on the applicant education achievements two decades ago.

I wonder how much the education of an applicant affects his/her chance to be appointed as a full professor? Does a bad education (having low GPA at PhD level) always affects someone's academic career, even at highest levels?
From a European perspective: the only time I was ever asked for transcripts was for PhD admission. After that, nobody every asked me for transcripts.


Administrative people asked me for a proof of my degree (a copy of the degree itself, without grades, is what I gave). They only wanted to check I was eligible for the position's formal requirements (having a PhD to become post-doc or assistant professor).
Scientists asked me for my publications, my thesis, the list of topics I had taught, etc. They did not care the least about my grades in undergrad or graduate education.


So, I think the ads you saw asking for transcripts, especially for senior positions, are by far a minority. Once you have a PhD, most people won't care about your earlier educational record, since it is not a good predictor of how awesome you will be as a researcher.