Career Development in Academia

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Career Development in Academia

• Dr Sara Shinton

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Session overview

• Academic Career Paths
• Pitfalls
• Opportunities
• Career Planning
• How to boost your employability
• Support and resources

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Academic Career Paths

• What your future may look like
• Positive and Negative Aspects
• Getting there next steps

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Perspectives on Academia

• moans and groans
• your negative perceptions
• concerns about promotion
• Barriers to personal promotion

3 minutes!
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Perspectives on Academia

• hopes and aspirations
• your perceptions
• why academia appeals
• Opportunities for personal promotion

3 minutes!
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The Positives and Negatives

• Freedom
• Intellectual Stimulation
• Engagement with Students
• Personal Recognition
• Altruism

• Demands
• Administation
• Teaching?
• Grant Writing
• Status
• Struggle for independence

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The Path

• Humanities/Arts/Social Science

PhD
Research Fellow
Teaching Assistant
Fixed Term Lectureship
Permanent (Tenured) Lectureship
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The Path

• Science/Engineering

PhD
Research Associate
Personal Fellowship
Fixed Term Lectureship
Permanent (Tenured) Lectureship
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The Path

• Academic Career Progression

Lectureship
Senior Lecturer
Reader
Professor
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Pitfalls

• HASS
• Number of research posts
• Status of teaching assistants
• Availability of funding

• Sci/Eng
• Number of lectureships
• Establishing independence from supervisor
• Competition for funding

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The Future of Academia

• Brainstorm the current issues which will affect
  career development in academia

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The Issues

• Publications
• Research Funding
• Esteem Factors
• Institutional Responsibilities
• National/International Standing

• Writing
• Strategic Thinking
• Networking
• Self promotion
• Political thinking
• Time Management

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The Future of Academia

• Institutional and sectoral priorities are
  changing
• in 10 years time
• which of these will still be relevant?
• which will be more or less important?
• what new priorities do you envisage?

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Future Issues

• Impact of RAE
• Research-Teaching divide?
• Mergers (institutional or departmental)
• International market

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Getting There

• Talk to academics
• Engage with the research community
• Look out for potential collaborators
• Be mobile
• Write, write, write
• Apply for funding/competitions
• Tell people

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Support

• Your research community
• Postdocs/teaching assistants
• Supervisor/ academics
• Professional bodies/conferences
• Careers Service
• UK GRAD
• On-line resources

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Resources

• Identify your skills www.grad.ac.uk/jss
• The Research Councils Skills Statement
• See what you could do www.grad.ac.uk/wdpd
• What Do PhDs Do stories and stats
• Advice and Examples http//sciencecareers.sciencem
  ag.org/
• Not just for scientists examples of transitions
  and advice for academic career success
• Careers Library www.prospects.ac.uk
• Occupations profiles links to employers CV and
  interview advice

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Career Planning- Why?

• Statistics are positive, but only part of story
• Academic careers are highly sought after
• Employers outside academia look for more than
  research outputs
• Whatever your career objectives, start planning

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Academic careers

• PhD
• Conferences
• Publications
• Committees and national bodies
• Meeting the right people
• Choosing the right postdoc
• Aiming for Fellowships
• Mobility

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Research Careers

• PhD
• Conferences research labour market
• Publications AND wider communication
• Multidisciplinary approach breadth
• Commercial awareness
• Choosing the right company
• Recruitment practices mini interns
• Geographical focus

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To Conclude

• Start today
• Keep talking and exploring your options
• Do what you WANT to do
• www.shintonconsulting.com