Constructing academic identity in the European higher education space: Experiences of early career educational researchers

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-268
Author(s):  
Sanja Djerasimovic ◽  
Marialuisa Villani
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Academic Identity ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Geographic Mobility ◽  
Academic Values ◽  
Professional Identification ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
Entrepreneurial Spirit ◽  
European Higher Education

This exploratory paper presents insights from a qualitative interview-based study of the academic identity-building among a group of early career researchers working in the field of education across the European higher education space. Set against a policy background framed by the initiatives in European higher education and research policy, geared towards a production of a mobile, entrepreneurial researcher in pursuit of ‘valuable’ knowledge, the respondents’ narratives reveal individual complexity, but also emerging patterns of professional identification. We identify the traditional academic values of creating and sharing knowledge validated by an epistemic community, and pursuing autonomy and collegiality in research, as still dominant, however, find these interacting with the demonstration of a strong proactive, entrepreneurial spirit, and a lack of institutional attachment. The narratives indicate the availability of supportive, encouraging communities as being of high significance, and contest the notions of Europeanisation and the utility of geographic mobility in researchers’ identities. The paper discusses different types of academic identification driven by value orientation and social attachment that emerged from the early career researchers’ interviews, alongside pervasive issues around mobility raised in most narratives, and concludes with suggestions for further study.

The Association for Educational Assessment - Europe. An Agency for Accountability in Europe

CADMO ◽  
2009 ◽  
pp. 5-18
Author(s):  
Emma Nardi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
European Union ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Educational Assessment ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Research Development ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
European Higher Education

- AEA-Europe was founded in 2000 with the main goals of improving communication among European institutions interested in educational and occupational assessment, and providing a framework within which co-operative research, development implementation and evaluation of projects involving educational assessment could be undertaken. After 10 years of successful activity, the Association has built a position that could allow it to become the protagonist of the EU's policy in the field of assessment, becoming a reference point for all its members, and playing a crucial role as an applicant for projects funded by the European Union. This article, dealing with research policy, describes the activity carried out by the Association since 2000, presents the EU's policy in research funding specifically applied to Tempus projects, and discusses how the Association could contribute to evaluation and accountability in the European Higher Education and Research Area.

scholarly journals Higher education research in African contexts: reflections from fieldwork in Flagship Universitiesin South Africa, Mozambique and Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Addisalem Tebikew Yallew ◽  
Paul Othusitse Dipitso
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Eastern Africa ◽  
Higher Education Research ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
Fieldwork Experience ◽  
Access To The Field

This article is written with the recognition that, as higher education studies evolve as a multidisciplinary area of inquiry, there is a need to reflect on the theoretical and practical concerns emerging from conducting higher education research. This is especially the case for early-career researchers who enter this relatively new field of study. This article attempts to explore the fieldwork component of the research process considering our experiences as early-career researchers conducting PhD studies in four universities in southern and eastern Africa. The article focuses on issues related to ethics, gaining and negotiating access to the field, and dealing with positionality during fieldwork. While reflecting on these experiences, we also attempted to explore if there are any fieldwork dynamics, which are peculiar to the African higher education context that may be considered during data collection. Reflecting on our experiences, we have argued that, in some institutions, necessary procedures for researching higher education need to be in place, while with the ones that have institutionalised mechanisms the procedures adopted need to be aligned with contextual realities and should focus on ethical considerations rather than protecting the reputation of universities. Our fieldwork experience has also made us realise that the advice given to early-career researchers both in the literature, seminars and courses they attend may not adequately prepare them for the unpredictable fieldwork dynamics. In that regard, we have suggested that there is a need to prepare emerging researchers to be open-minded, flexible, reflexive, innovative and adaptable when going out to the field.

scholarly journals Emerging Neoliberal Academic Identities: Looking Beyond Homo economicus

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Skea
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Identity ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Good Work ◽  
Homo Economicus ◽  
Academic Identities ◽  
Neoliberal Governmentality ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
The University

AbstractIn this article, I deal with the notion of ‘academic identity’ holistically, seeking to bring together the teacher and researcher roles of academics in the neoliberal university. The article begins from the perspective of early-career academics who occupy the majority of fixed-term, teaching-only contracts in Higher Education, arguing that such casualisation of academic labour entrenches the role of the academic as Homo economicus. Drawing on the work of Foucault, I demonstrate how a neoliberal governmentality is now not only exerted upon academics from without, but increasingly they are subjecting themselves to the logic of efficiency and effectiveness too. The neoliberal governmentality of the university thus influences and shapes academic subjectivities, such that what it means to be an academic is confined to this marketised logic. Despite the pressures placed on academics to ‘produce’ measurable outputs and demonstrate their impact, I argue that moving beyond Homo economicus is possible, arguing instead for a re-claiming of ‘the academic’ as Homo academicus. The idea of Homo academicus can only be supported when three conditions are present: collegiality is afforded greater importance than competition; the discourses of ‘productivity’ and performativity are balanced against simply ‘doing good work well’ (Pirrie in Virtue and the quiet art of scholarship, Routledge, London, 2019), and; academics are mindful to practice the ‘quieter’ intellectual virtues, including the virtue of ‘unknowing’ (Smith in J Philos Educ 50:272–284, 2016).

scholarly journals PRESIDENTIAL SYMPOSIUM: MULTIDISCIPLINARY EMERGING PERSPECTIVES ON BUILDING AND MAINTAINING NETWORKS IN AGING.

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S559-S559
Author(s):  
Darina V Petrovsky ◽  
Jamie N Justice
Keyword(s):  
Research Policy ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Nursing Home Residents ◽  
State Level ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Transcriptional Networks ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
The Impact

Abstract This ESPO Presidential Symposium features a multidisciplinary perspective and recent scientific advances made by early career researchers from each of the GSA scientific sections. They will provide examples of how their work is addressing ways to build and maintain networks in aging and gerontological workforce. These talks will span research on the age-associated transcriptional networks (Biological Sciences, Kulkarni), enhancing care for persons with dementia using a professional healthcare network (Health Sciences, Kovaleva), ways to maintain care networks in nursing home residents (Behavioral and Social Sciences, Kennedy), exploring the impact of social isolation in older adults on the Autism Spectrum (Social Research, Policy, and Practice, Waldron) and reflections on a project that linked aging education and student involvement within the aging network at the state level (Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education, Stephenson). These talks will demonstrate the diversity of aims, strategies, methodologies, and tools employed across disciplines. In addition, these early career researchers will share how they use networks in their own disciplines to advance their science with the goal of building an independent program of research. We will conclude with a discussion on ways to identify synergies across different fields and promote strategies for successful cross-discipline collaboration.

scholarly journals The impact of the pandemic on early career researchers: what we already know from the internationally published literature

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eti Herman ◽  
David Nicholas ◽  
Anthony Watkinson ◽  
Blanca Rodríguez-Bravo ◽  
Abdullah Abrizah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Pertinent Literature ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Analytic Review ◽  
Scholarly Communications ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Development Prospects

In order to take account of the impact of the pandemic on the already changing scholarly communications and work-life of early career researchers (ECRs), the 4-year long Harbingers study was extended for another two years. As a precursor to the study (featuring interviews and a questionnaire survey), currently underway, an analytic review of the pertinent literature was undertaken and its results are presented here. The review focuses on the challenges faced by ECRs and how these compare to the ones more senior researchers have to tackle. In the examination of the literature three general questions are posed: Q1) What are the identifiable and forthcoming impacts of the pandemic-induced financial pressures felt in the Higher Education sector on ECRs’ employment and career development prospects? Q2) What are the identifiable and forthcoming pandemic-associated disruptions in the pace/focus/direction of the research undertaking? Have any disruptions been predicted to exert an impact on ECRs’ research activities, and if so, with what scholarly consequences? Q3) How is the work-life of ECRs shaping up under the virus-dictated rules of the ‘new normal’ in the research undertaking? What challenges, if any, arise from the changes in practices identified, and what might their potential consequences be for ECRs? The broad conclusion of the study is that the literature leaves little room for doubt: junior researchers are already disproportionally affected by and bear the burden of the ongoing pandemic-incurred hardships and they are likely to remain similarly impacted when more trials, still unfolding, materialise.

scholarly journals Policy Series: ESPO/ Social Research, Policy, and Practice Section Symposium: Connecting Aging Research to Policy: Insights and Strategies for Early-Career Researchers

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 683-683
Author(s):  
Claire Pendergrast ◽  
Jennifer May
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Healthcare Access ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Aging Research ◽  
Aging Policy ◽  
Early Career Researchers ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Research To Policy

Abstract A wide range of policy issues, from healthcare to transportation to social insurance, influence health and wellbeing for older adults. Gerontologists have the opportunity to get involved with policy at any scale, from the organizational or community level to local, state, or federal policy. This symposium brings together a diverse panel of emerging and established academics to discuss strategies for early career researchers to understand and participate in aging policy activities. Panelists will discuss opportunities for researchers to contribute their expertise to policy discussions, and will share their own experiences and perspectives on participating in the policy process. Specific topics covered will include aging policy internship opportunities for graduate students, academic involvement with advocacy efforts to promote healthcare access to older adults, strategies for designing and conducting impactful and policy research, approaches to collaboration with diverse stakeholders to connect research to policy, and strategies for communicating policy-relevant research findings to general public and policy audiences. This symposium will reflect the SRPP’s strong commitment to connecting research to policy and practice, and will provide early career scholars with strategies to connect their own research to policy in order to inform decision-making and improve health and quality of life for older adults.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document