How do you get an academic job and what is it like to be an academic? This project, co-funded by the Higher Education Academy and King’s Learning Institute, investigated this very question. Twelve postgraduate researchers each interviewed at least one junior and one senior academic in their field of study resulting in a total of 26 interviews. The interviews were designed to explore what it is like to be an academic and the characteristics, activities and skills that help securing an academic position. Twenty of the academics were based in the UK, and six interviews were conducted with academics in other countries (Italy and Korea). We combined the insights from the different interviews to create a unique online resource where this shared wealth of experiences and advice is collected. The resulting resource is designed by and for PhD students and early career researchers covering a range of disciplines and providing a free, accessible and interdisciplinary resource for UK postgraduate researchers who would like to obtain academic employment in the UK. The project contributes to research-led and learner centred development activities at King’s College in empowering postgraduate researchers to undertake qualitative interviews and taking responsibility for their career progression. The project gives equal priority both to the outcome of the research and to the postgraduate researcher development as part of the integrated research process. The project website is available at: http://1stacademicjob.co.uk/

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Academic Job
www.1stacademicjob.co.uk
Anna Mountford-Zimdars, King’s Learning Institute
About
This HEA and King’s Learning Institute funded project
1. developed a free, interdisciplinary online resource about academic jobs (see Figure 1) for researchers
2. is based on interviews with 30 academics from King’s College and abroad
3. describes and evaluates the skills needed for teaching and research
4. maps the journey from researcher to academic
5. has practical tips on how to become an academic
6. gives an insight into what it means to be an academic (see Figure 3)
Developing Students as Researchers
The project offered a unique opportunity for 12
postgraduate researchers
1. to acquire and apply educational research skills and to
conduct interviews with academics in their disciplines
2. to develop the project website
3. to gain insights into how to become an academic in
their discipline (see Figure 2)
Figure 1: 1stacademicjob website
8 Commandments
Figure 3: Academic Values
1. passion
2. research Ability
3. dissemination
4. publications
5. collegiality
6. networking
7. teaching
8. international experience
Questions we asked about Academic Life
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Is an academic job right for me?
What you do as an academic?
Pros and cons of the job?
Pathways into an academic job?
Figure 2: What makes an academic
Scroll image source:
http://alexandriahines.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/scroll.jpg
Contact: Anna.Mountford-Zimdars@kcl.ac.uk