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Article
Publication date: 14 November 2016

Lynn McAlpine, Gill Turner, Sharon Saunders and Natacha Wilson

This paper aims to examine the experience of gaining research independence by becoming a principal investigator (PI) – an aspiration for many post-PhD researchers about whom…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the experience of gaining research independence by becoming a principal investigator (PI) – an aspiration for many post-PhD researchers about whom little is known. It provides insight into this experience by using a qualitative narrative approach to document how 60 PIs from a range of disciplines in one European and two UK universities experienced working towards and achieving this significant goal.

Design/methodology/approach

Within the context of a semi-structured interview, individuals drew and elaborated a map representing the emotional high and low experiences of the journey from PhD graduation to first PI grant, and completed a biographic questionnaire.

Findings

Regardless of the length of the journey from PhD graduation to first PI grant, more than a third noted the role that luck played in getting the grant. Luck was also perceived to have an influence in other aspects of academic work. This influence made it even more important for these individuals to sustain a belief in themselves and be agentive and persistent in managing the challenges of the journey.

Originality/value

The study, unusual in its cross-national perspective, and its mixed mode data collection, offers a nuanced perspective on the interaction between agency and an environment where the “randomness factor” plays a role in success. The function of luck as a support for sustained agency and resilience is explored.

Details

International Journal for Researcher Development, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2048-8696

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 May 2011

Gill Turner and Lynn McAlpine

Social science doctoral graduates increasingly are moving into higher education research positions yet the nature of these roles is under researched. The purpose of this paper is…

1029

Abstract

Purpose

Social science doctoral graduates increasingly are moving into higher education research positions yet the nature of these roles is under researched. The purpose of this paper is to compare the experiences of research staff (RS) and doctoral students (DS), to bring an awareness of the extent to which doctoral experience can be preparation for research roles.

Design/methodology/approach

This research adopts a narrative perspective. Using multi‐method data collection the authors compared seven RS and seven DS from the social sciences, capturing their experiences during the first year of a longitudinal study. Analysis involved developing case summaries and thematic coding.

Findings

The findings detail similarities in the work undertaken by each group; show that passionate thought for academic work is rooted early in academic life; and illustrate that status is more complex and fluid than previously noted, regardless of role.

Research limitations/implications

Numbers are small; however, although attrition is a possibility, this longitudinal approach should allow us to explore further our notions of doctoral experience as researcher preparation, as participants move from doctoral study into research positions.

Originality/value

This is a rare account of a comparison between RS and DS. The paper argues that the experiences of RS are not discrete and specific only to their role but are part of the same journey as that undertaken by DS.

Details

International Journal for Researcher Development, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2048-8696

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 May 2013

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 PhD…

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
ISSN: 2048-8696

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 26 September 2013

Lynn McAlpine, Cheryl Amundsen and Gill Turner

Early career researchers are of increasing interest, regardless of national boundaries, given both policies to enhance international competitiveness, and concerns about…

Abstract

Early career researchers are of increasing interest, regardless of national boundaries, given both policies to enhance international competitiveness, and concerns about individuals turning away from academic careers. As a result, there is a growing literature documenting how early career researchers navigate their journeys and decide to stay or leave. Our research is situated within this literature, yet is distinct in using a longitudinal qualitative team-based approach that has led to the conception of identity incorporating both the continuity of stable personhood over time and a sense of ongoing change. The scholarly contribution of this work is to articulate a contrasting perspective to the structural or systemic one common in examining early career researcher experience. Our goal in this chapter is to make transparent the decisions and actions underlying our approach and, in so doing, demonstrate the potential of researching the construction of identity in this way.

Details

Theory and Method in Higher Education Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-682-8

Article
Publication date: 26 July 2011

Outi Sarpila and Pekka Räsänen

The paper aims to examine changes concerning spending on personal care products and services, and socio‐demographic variations between households.

1219

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to examine changes concerning spending on personal care products and services, and socio‐demographic variations between households.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were derived from the Finnish Household Budget Survey from 1998 (n=4,359), 2001 (n=5,495) and 2006 (n=4,007) provided by Statistics Finland. The main analysis of personal care consumption was conducted by examining the purchasing costs of personal care products and appliances, and the amount of spending on personal care services. The differences in expenditure patterns are analysed according to the respondents' gender and age, level of education and income, and type of household.

Findings

The results indicate that household spending on personal care products and services has generally increased. However, the share of total consumption has not changed dramatically. The gender of the highest earner of the household along with household income is the key predictor of this type of consumption expenditure across all household types. The effects of these two variables have become stronger.

Research limitations/implications

The data do not make it possible to differentiate between individual level and household level spending decisions across all household types.

Social implications

Contrary to common belief, gender differences concerning personal care consumption have not diminished.

Originality/value

This study examines actual changes in personal care consumption according to socio‐demographic variables.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 31 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 26 September 2013

Abstract

Details

Theory and Method in Higher Education Research
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-682-8

Article
Publication date: 25 September 2020

Nicola J. Gray, Didier Jourdan and Janet E. McDonagh

The reopening of schools during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is full of challenges for families, which are heightened for children and young people (CYP) who live with chronic…

Abstract

Purpose

The reopening of schools during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is full of challenges for families, which are heightened for children and young people (CYP) who live with chronic illnesses. This paper aims to offer a framework to support the successful return of CYP with chronic illnesses to school using appropriate intersectoral strategies.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on research data on the impact of school closure on CYP with chronic illness and emerging findings of global research about their lives during the pandemic. It is also informed by the perspectives of practitioners in the field, who are working with these CYP and their families.

Findings

A framework based on three different strategies for a successful return is established. A small but significant group of CYP living with conditions such as cancer will not yet return and will need ongoing home education provision. CYP with well-controlled symptoms of chronic illness will benefit from school routines and socialization with peers. CYP with poorly controlled illness will need close supervision and individual plans. All groups will benefit from better intersectoral working across education and health and from recent rapid developments in hybrid learning models and telemedicine.

Originality/value

This viewpoint highlights the need for a strategic approach to the return to school of CYP with chronic illness that goes well beyond classifying them as vulnerable students. This group of CYP is already at risk of lower educational attainment, so widening inequalities must be halted. This paper provides a framework for anchoring local intersectoral approaches adapted to the different situations of CYP.

Details

Journal of Children's Services, vol. 15 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-6660

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 17 May 2013

Linda Evans

112

Abstract

Details

International Journal for Researcher Development, vol. 4 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2048-8696

Content available
Article
Publication date: 20 May 2011

Linda Evans

484

Abstract

Details

International Journal for Researcher Development, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2048-8696

Content available
Article
Publication date: 18 May 2012

Linda Evans

113

Abstract

Details

International Journal for Researcher Development, vol. 3 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2048-8696

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