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Book part
Publication date: 20 January 2021

Navigating Tricky Terrain: Early Career Academics Charting a Research Trajectory in the Neoliberal University

Mohamed Alansari, Jennifer Tatebe and Carol Mutch

The current book chapter seeks to respond to the existing literature on early career researchers, using an autoethnographic approach to further unravel the crossroads of…

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Abstract

The current book chapter seeks to respond to the existing literature on early career researchers, using an autoethnographic approach to further unravel the crossroads of identity formation, research politics, and successful promotion through the eyes of early career researchers. Combining autobiography and ethnography, we systematically analyze our own experiences to make sense of wider social and political practices. Ellis, Adams, and Bochner (2010) remind us that autoethnography is not to be dismissed as a form of self-therapy but is to be presented in a rigorous manner as other research forms by carefully justifying the data sources and techniques, analyzing the data and crafting the findings. Our sources were both found texts (e.g., university policies) and created texts (our journal entries and personal communications). Using analytic techniques such as highlighting critical incidents or epiphanies, we structured coherent narratives to illuminate the complexity and uncertainty of the lives of early career academics. This chapter’s focus on early career researcher experiences makes poignant commentary on neoliberalism’s impact on and within higher education. The chapter concludes with the authors’ reflections on the dilemmas of academic and research choices made within the limitations of institutional structures, processes, and systems that shape career trajectories.

Details

International Perspectives on Emerging Trends and Integrating Research-based Learning across the Curriculum
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S2055-364120210000036008
ISBN: 978-1-80043-476-9

Keywords

  • Early career academics
  • emerging scholars
  • post-doctoral research
  • neoliberalism
  • neoliberal university
  • higher education
  • tertiary education
  • conscious complicity
  • unwitting complicity
  • coercive complicity
  • autoethnography
  • narrative inquiry

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Article
Publication date: 2 September 2014

Flights of two female academics’ entry into the profession

Narelle Lemon and Susanne Garvis

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate what can be learnt about early career researchers through a narrative self-reflection of two academics’ moving towards the end…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate what can be learnt about early career researchers through a narrative self-reflection of two academics’ moving towards the end of the early career into middle career stage.

Design/methodology/approach

The two academics’ share their experiences as self- study reflective inquiries, specifically as a want and need for “more” through this respective involvement in critically thinking about and planning their career trajectory. Using Schwab's (1969) flights from the field as an interpretative tool, this event is the trigger used to story and re-story the personal experience of the academics through a reflective inquiry approach.

Findings

Looking across the reflective self-studies, the final analysis reveals similarities, differences and tensions of the lived experiences of early career researchers’.

Originality/value

Through listening to the voices of early career academics insights are gained that highlight the need for active agency in the academy while learning from others to focus on building research profiles.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-08-2013-0036
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

  • Higher education
  • Reflective practice
  • Self-study
  • Academic
  • Early career researchers
  • Schwab

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Book part
Publication date: 28 January 2019

The Academic Market in Latin America: Challenges and Opportunities for Early Career Scholars

Elizabeth Balbachevsky

Latin America is a vast and diverse continent. Not only are there dozens of different nations, but each country is also marked by stark regional differences. Nevertheless…

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Abstract

Latin America is a vast and diverse continent. Not only are there dozens of different nations, but each country is also marked by stark regional differences. Nevertheless, the academic profession in all countries shares some common features that are important for an emerging scholar to know. Here, maybe more than in other parts of the world, early career decisions have significant and long-lasting consequences. This chapter presents the Latin American academic context focusing on the academic career ladder, as it is organized both in the public and the private sectors, exploring the many sources of tension and challenges, as well as opportunities for early career scholars in the region.

Details

Achieving Academic Promotion
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78756-899-020191010
ISBN: 978-1-78756-902-7

Keywords

  • Academic promotion
  • Latin America
  • career ladder
  • early career scholar
  • segregated academic markets
  • public and private sectors in higher education

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Article
Publication date: 10 August 2015

Mentorship in computer ethics: ETHICOMP as a “community mentor” for doctoral and early career researchers

Catherine Flick

This paper aims to introduce the concept of ETHICOMP as “community mentor” – the role that the ETHICOMP conference plays outside the standard conference fare, in which it…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to introduce the concept of ETHICOMP as “community mentor” – the role that the ETHICOMP conference plays outside the standard conference fare, in which it nurtures and supports up-and-coming researchers in the field of computer ethics.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper uses an auto-ethnographic methodology to reflexively explore the author’s career from PhD student to early career researcher spanning the years 2005-2013, and how the ETHICOMP community has played a significant role as a mentor in her life. The literature on mentorship is discussed, particularly focussing on the importance of mentorship for women in philosophy-related academic careers, and criteria for successful mentorship are measured against the ETHICOMP “community mentorship”. Additionally, some key philosophical concepts are introduced and reflected upon.

Findings

The paper produces recommendations for other philosophical communities wishing to grow their mentorship capabilities through communities around conferences.

Originality/value

This paper sheds new light on the concepts of mentorship and the practical application of mentorship within an academic community. It also provides an account of the value of the ETHICOMP conference series that is beyond the usual academic output.

Details

Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, vol. 13 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-10-2014-0052
ISSN: 1477-996X

Keywords

  • Gender
  • Community
  • Diversity
  • Empathy
  • Conferences
  • Mentorship

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Article
Publication date: 8 May 2017

Exploring academic hiring and life in humanities and social sciences at an English research university through a PhD students-as-partners project

Katie Brown and Anna Mountford-Zimdars

The purpose of this study is twofold: to make explicit academics’ tacit knowledge of academic employment and to develop the educational research and employability skills…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is twofold: to make explicit academics’ tacit knowledge of academic employment and to develop the educational research and employability skills of 12 postgraduate researchers.

Design/methodology/approach

Twelve postgraduate researchers from ten different disciplines conducted 24 semi-structured interviews (12 with early career academics, 12 with senior academics). Respondents shared the skills, experiences and attributes sought when hiring and their lived experience of being academics.

Findings

The importance given to both explicitly stated (publications, teaching experience) and implicit (values, behaviour) factors varies greatly among individual academics. There is a mismatch between stated job requirements and the realities of academic life. A students-as-partners project fosters critical engagement with these questions and offers other benefits to participants.

Research limitations/implications

Most respondents work at one research-intensive English institution, potentially limiting generalisability to teaching-led and international institutions.

Practical/implications

Researcher development programmes should make explicit the range of factors considered in hiring while also encouraging critical engagement with the realities of academic work. Through students-as-partners projects, postgraduate research students can uncover first-hand what academic life is like and what hiring committees are looking for.

Originality/value

Through involving students-as-partners, the research question changed to reflect the actual concerns of those contemplating an academic career. Students gained invaluable awareness of academic hiring and insights into academic life, as well as transferable skills.

Details

Studies in Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/SGPE-02-2016-0001
ISSN: 2398-4686

Keywords

  • Researcher development
  • Academic hiring
  • Academic job
  • Academic life
  • Postgraduate researchers
  • Students-as-partners

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Article
Publication date: 2 September 2019

Recollage as a tool for self-care: Reflecting multimodally on first five years in the academy through Schwab’s lines of flight

Georgina Barton

Working in the academy can be both challenging and exciting as it can be trying and difficult to negotiate if one is unprepared. Past research has acknowledged the…

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Abstract

Purpose

Working in the academy can be both challenging and exciting as it can be trying and difficult to negotiate if one is unprepared. Past research has acknowledged the importance of reflective practice in order to face such trials positively. This study utilises arts-based/multimodal reflection to contemplate the lived experience of one early career researcher in her first five years of employment. Adopting an arts-based approach, the researcher regularly reflected via the medium of collage. The purpose of this paper is to report on recollaged artefacts that are analysed in relation to meta-semiotic meanings as well as how they correspond to Schwab’s “lines of flight”, revealing both positive and negative acuities. Findings show that taking the time to delineate feelings via arts-based reflection can illuminate silent thoughts and deliberations and support an early career academic in appreciating and improving awareness of higher education regularities. Implications highlight how recollage can be an effective tool for the self-care of early career academics.

Design/methodology/approach

Adopting an arts-based approach, the researcher regularly reflected via the medium of collage. This paper reports on recollaged artefacts. These were analysed in relation to meta-semiotic meanings as well as how they corresponded to Schwab’s “lines of flight”, taking both positive and negative acuities.

Findings

Findings showed that taking the time to delineate feelings via arts-based reflection can reveal silent thoughts and deliberations and support an early career academic in appreciating and improving awareness of higher education regularities as well as self-care.

Research limitations/implications

Implications highlight how recollage can be effective for early career academics in reflecting on their everyday work and improve self-care.

Practical implications

Practical implications include the fact that readers will be able to adopt the arts-based methods used in this paper in order for them to reflect on their everyday work in the academy. The recollaged practice will improve their self-care and allow time to reflect effectively and creatively.

Social implications

Social implications include that colleagues could do recollaged practice together. Reflection done collaboratively can also improve self-care and well-being for those working in the academy.

Originality/value

Recollage is a new method of autoethnography the author has developed for the purpose of reflecting on my journey as an early career researcher. Now, in leadership roles, this approach has allowed the author to move forward positively in the academy.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. 20 no. 1
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/QRJ-04-2019-0039
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

  • Reflection
  • Arts-based
  • Early career researcher
  • Recollage

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Article
Publication date: 9 May 2016

Post-PhD non-academic careers: intentions during and after degree

Lynn McAlpine

Although more than half of the PhD graduates do not take up traditional academic positions, the little we know of how they navigate into the non-academic workforce is…

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Abstract

Purpose

Although more than half of the PhD graduates do not take up traditional academic positions, the little we know of how they navigate into the non-academic workforce is somewhat conflicting. This study aims to contribute to our knowledge by examining over time the experiences of post-PhD social scientists who went into non-academic careers. It examines how post-PhD social scientists in non-academic careers characterize their experience of the PhD; how they imagine their post-PhD careers during the degree and how this influenced their doctoral activity; and to what extent their intentions changed over time and how agentive they were in managing challenges or disappointments.

Design/methodology/approach

The study uses a longitudinal qualitative narrative approach to examine the experience of eight post-PhD social scientists beginning during their degrees through their initial years after graduation outside academia.

Findings

The analysis highlights variation in clarity of career vision, strategic career thinking and action, knowledge of career opportunity structures and changes in career intentions over time. Still, for all individuals, the PhD was considered a powerful learning experience which continued to influence their lives.

Practical implications

Overall, the results make clear that post-PhD trajectories are best built from the beginning of the PhD, a conclusion that has curriculum implications.

Originality/value

This study incorporates the career question into the development of junior researchers highlighting the need to attend not only to objective measures of career success but also subjective intentions, investments, choices and assessments. Further, the constructs developed within an academic work context to understand career trajectories proved robust in analyzing non-academic work experience.

Details

International Journal for Researcher Development, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRD-04-2015-0010
ISSN: 2048-8696

Keywords

  • Individual agency and intention
  • Non-academic careers
  • Post-PhD trajectories

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Article
Publication date: 17 May 2013

Constructing post‐PhD careers: negotiating opportunities and personal goals

Lynn McAlpine, Cheryl Amundsen and Gill Turner

Until relatively recently, the doctorate was generally perceived as preparation for a full‐time permanent academic position. However, this is no longer the case, with many…

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Abstract

Purpose

Until relatively recently, the doctorate was generally perceived as preparation for a full‐time permanent academic position. However, this is no longer the case, with many PhD graduates working outside academia or in temporary full‐ and part‐time positions in higher education institutions. Yet, we know little of the ways in which they perceive and then navigate the transition from PhD to initial careers. Thus authors undertook an analysis of longitudinal data from six social sciences PhDs (part of a larger dataset) to document how they transitioned from the PhD and navigated a future.

Design/methodology/approach

Different forms of data, collected multiple times over two years, were analysed using emergent coding to capture the experiences of navigating a future.

Findings

The results enrich present understanding of this end‐of‐PhD period, in particular, highlighting individuals' growing understanding of academic, hybrid and non‐academic career opportunity structures, and the importance of personal intentions and relationships in defining possible horizons for action.

Originality/value

The conceptual and pedagogical contributions of this study to understanding doctoral and post‐doctoral career decision‐making are described.

Details

International Journal for Researcher Development, vol. 4 no. 1
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRD-01-2013-0002
ISSN: 2048-8696

Keywords

  • Longitudinal research
  • Narrative research
  • Personal intentions
  • Post‐PhD careers
  • Transitions

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Article
Publication date: 4 November 2014

Developing future research leaders: Designing early career researcher programs to enhance track record

Lynette Browning, Kirrilly Thompson and Drew Dawson

The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel strategy for building research capability in a young university with an emerging research culture. Investment in building…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel strategy for building research capability in a young university with an emerging research culture. Investment in building research capacity is essential for universities to remain competitive, but one of the challenges for younger universities is developing the research capability of individuals in an emerging research culture.

Design/methodology/approach

To gain a better understanding of how leading researchers become research leaders and how universities can design strategies to attract, retain, develop and promote researchers, we carried out a study of 30 research leaders in Australia. We then designed and implemented a cohort-based career development programme for early career researchers.

Findings

From our research, and the programme we developed, we have found that developing early career researchers does not mean teaching them how to do research – it means teaching them how to build a track record, which can lead to a research career. A development programme for early career researchers is a short-term investment for longer-term returns, but these programmes do have immediate impact on research productivity for the individual researchers and for the organisation.

Practical implications

We consider the success of the Early Career Researchers Programme is due to the regular face to face workshops, the development of the research career plan and the supportive research environment provided by the me.

Originality/value

The investment in this programme clearly demonstrates the value of researcher development on research outputs and research careers. These methods could be applied to researcher development training programmes elsewhere.

Details

International Journal for Researcher Development, vol. 5 no. 2
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRD-08-2014-0019
ISSN: 2048-8696

Keywords

  • Early career researchers
  • Researcher development
  • Evaluation
  • Research leaders
  • Track record

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Article
Publication date: 5 October 2019

Overcoming fears: a pathway to publishing for early career researchers

Nafsika Drosou, Monia Del Pinto, Mohammed A. Al-Shuwaili, Susie Goodall and Elisabeth Marlow

The purpose of this paper is to present reflections of five early career researchers on the challenges of journal publishing and how to tackle them.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present reflections of five early career researchers on the challenges of journal publishing and how to tackle them.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors attended a participatory workshop on demystifying academic publications. Working individually and in groups the authors shared, discussed, analysed, visualised and ranked perceived challenges and opportunities concerning academic publishing. The authors then delved into the existing literature on the subject. Following their enhanced understanding of the area, the authors reflected on the experience and learnings.

Findings

Personal confidence relating to the development of a scholarly identity was found to be a critical factor in the attitude towards journal publishing. Supervisory and peer support, accessibility to journal editors, as well as opportunities to reflect on the writing, publishing and peer review processes through participatory workshops and writing groups, were deemed more effective than formal and conventional guidance schemes.

Research limitations/implications

This work adds to the available literature regarding the issue of academic publishing for PhD students and early career researchers.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to a deeper understanding of issues surrounding publishing apprehension, by laying out thoughts that are seldom expressed.

Details

Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-07-2019-0197
ISSN: 0965-3562

Keywords

  • Journal publishing
  • Academic writing
  • Early career researchers (ECR)
  • Self-efficacy
  • Fear

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