Unpacking effective mentorship practices for early career academics: a mixed-methods study

PurposeMentoring can be an important source of support, particularly for those who are in the early stages of their career in academia. Drawing upon data from a larger study, the authors investigated opportunities for mentorship, factors that hinder or support mentorship and the value of mentorship from the perspective of early career academics (ECAs).Design/methodology/approachUsing a mixed-methods approach and social identity theory, the authors collected data via a survey and follow-up interviews with members of staff at the Open University, of which 19 ECA experiences were contrasted with 17 academics who received mentorship but were not early career.FindingsECAs and non-ECAs had equal access to mentoring, but mentoring seemed to be more visible and accessible to ECAs. Factors deemed to support mentorship included mentors having empathy and confidentiality. Mentorship was valued by ECAs because it helped to provide them with support that was in addition to their line management and to help them make sense of “being an academic”. From the data presented, mentorship supported ECAs in their academic career and identity development in higher education.Originality/valueThis research provides a mixed-methods approach to investigating early career mentoring within the context of a higher education institution in the United Kingdom. It considers the topic of mentoring of both junior and more senior staff who are often working at a distance to the institutional setting and provides a theoretical perspective in terms of social identity for academics.

Between the traditional, the neo-liberal and the open university Early career investigators caught in the triple bind of academic career requirements

Literature shows that, facing the neo-liberal definition of academic excellence, early career investigators (ECIs) in the social sciences and the humanities (SSH) have developed particular professional identities and behaviours towards the requirements of the academic career. Specificities of the SSH make the compliance to the assessment procedures of the “neo-liberal university” particularly challenging. Furthermore ECIs in the SSH are caught in an unprecedented “triple bind”. While pursuing their post-doctoral career in the context of the neo-liberal university, they are still academically trained in the disciplinary and collegial values of the “traditional university”. Although most career rewards and evaluation criteria are bound to the neo-liberal university, researchers now in the early stages of their career also constitute the first generation of academics to be exposed to the new requirements of the “open university”, through the Open Science policies and the Impact Agenda. In such context of uncertainty and conflicting rationalities, more efficient “early career building information ecosystems” should be put in place within academia. We also recommend to better integrate ECIs in the design and implementation of research evaluation principles and processes.

Academic Air Travel Cultures: A Framework for Reducing Academic Flying

As primary producers of knowledge, academics are required to create and disseminate research. The advent of internationalisation has given great emphasis to the importance of travel as it pertains to the success of an academic career and the international standing of an institution. However, academics who are highly aeromobile—particularly researchers working in the field of climate change—are now facing allegations of hypocrisy that in some cases may compromise the efficacy of their (climate) research. The novelty of this chapter arises from the application of the cultures framework to the study of academic air travel. It highlights three key elements—cognitive norms, practices and material culture. In this chapter, the cultures framework is adopted to provide a structure within which to consider individual and institutional pathways to achieve a reduction in academic flying. By exploring the interplay of cognitive norms, practices, material culture, support and barriers, the gap between academic theory and institutional realities and practices can be systematically explored and fully elaborated. Furthermore, in doing so, academics may be encouraged to engage in critical self-reflection of the cognitive dissonance between personal intentions to reduce air miles and behaviours to the contrary.

Reflective and Dynamic in Style

This chapter dives into the different components that weighted on the author's decision to pursue higher education in the United States. She compares business degrees in the US, Brazil, and Europe, explaining how each one has a different reputation in their own country and abroad. Bringing to the table a perspective of a born and raised Brazilian who was exposed to a diverse environment since an early age, she analyses the critical components included in choosing where to expand her academic career and provides both factual material and personal experience to support her decision of pursuing a business degree in the United States.

The Power of Love

Reading for pleasure, or aesthetic reading, brings about a colossal number of benefits. Only half of Americans can say they read even one book a year for pleasure. The rate of teachers who read for pleasure is approximately the same as the general public. The standards-based approach to education, which resulted in a surge of standards-based testing, has not resulted in a significant improvement in reading teaching or learning for students. In fact, the achievement gap and the plight of the struggling learner has not improved at all. The standards-based testing movement may be partially to blame for the reduction in reading enjoyment. Increasing a love of reading in students can make a significant impact on a student's academic career. The teachers now in the classroom do not have a love a reading to model or pass on to students. Teachers have the power to impact how students feel about reading. As higher education instructors it is time to take actions that will bring about more success for our students and their students.

Relationship between Stress and Educational Performance of University Students: A Correlational Research Study

Almost every student experiences stress during his or her academic career. Academic stress has several health-related implications and has an impact on study and learning ability. The present study aimed to analyze the association between stress and educational performance of university students. Psychological, bodily, and behavioral difficulties are common because of such stress. Correlation research design was applied to achieve the objectives of this stud. Total 296 students were selected randomly from three departments (Education, Chemistry and English) of the Islamia University Bahawalpur. For the accomplishment of current study’s objectives, data was collected via using a questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS. Descriptive statistics Pearson correlation test was applied to gain the results. The current study examined that majority of students are facing stress. The results also explore that physical and psychological stress have negative effects on academic achievement of students. It has been found that student’s mental health has an impact on their academic performance. Therefore, it is recommended that the university should organize the programs which can help to detect and reduce the effect of stress among students.

Between Reception and Reflection

In this work, I propose some notes for a current epistemological evaluation around Whiggism and presentism in the historiographical proposal of Guillermo Boido (1941-2013). In the first place, I will locate the topic proposed in the shared framework from the “Colloquium of Historiography of Science in Latin America (Argentina – Brazil – Uruguay): Reception, Reflection and Production.” Second, I will refer to some aspects of Boido’s academic career and I will place him in what I identify as a “second stage” of the history of science in Argentina. Third, I will dwell on some of Boido’s writings, particularly on those in which he addresses the questions of Whiggism and presentism. Fourth, I will recover some elements on the treatment of these issues in recent works carried out from the perspective of historical epistemology. Finally, in conclusion, I will propose a current epistemological evaluation of Whiggism and presentism between reception and reflection; an evaluation oriented to sustain a “critical” (Loison 2016) and “pluralist” (Chang 2021) presentism, in the face of the epistemological, ethical and political challenges of our current days.

Searching for how Epistemic Power is Made, Appropriated, Circulated, and Challenged

In the 2020 Prague Virtual Conference of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S), Sharon Traweek was awarded the society’s John D. Bernal Prize jointly with Langdon Winner. The Bernal Prize is awarded annually to individuals who have made distinguished contributions to the field of STS. Prize recipients include founders of the field of STS, along with outstanding scholars who have devoted their careers to the understanding of the social dimensions of science and technology. This is an edited transcription, which accompanies the full audio file also available in this issue of the journal. The interview supplements the text of Traweek’s 2020 Bernal lecture. In this interview, Traweek discusses her research, academic career, the many influences on her life, and her thoughts on STS—in the past and in the future.

“George Orwell Invented Journalism Studies”

To inaugurate our series of conversations with scholars in journalism studies with a view to securing some useful insights into the history and practice of journalism education, Prof. Richard Lance Keeble appeared an obvious choice. Now an Honorary Professor at Liverpool Hope University, Prof. Keeble was first director of the International Journalism MA, then director of the Journalism and Social Science BA, at City University, London (1984-2003). He was then appointed Professor of Journalism (2003-present) at Lincoln University where he also became acting head of the Lincoln School of Journalism (2010-2013) and later a Visiting Professor at Liverpool Hope University (2015-2019). Prof. Keeble has been the recipient of prestigious and distinguished prizes, namely the National Teaching Fellowship Award (2011) and the Lifetime Achievement Award for services to journalism education (2014), the latter bestowed by the Association for Journalism Education in the UK. Parallel to his academic career, Prof. Keeble has always been a practising journalist. On completion of his studies in Modern History at Keble College, Oxford University (1967-70), he started a career in journalism, first as sub editor at the Nottingham Guardian Journal/Evening Post (1970-73) and then at the Cambridge Evening News (1973-77). He was deputy editor, then editor, of The Teacher, the weekly newspaper of the National Union of Teachers (1977-84). His dual pedigree in journalism, as a practitioner and a professor, led him to take on many editorial responsibilities. He is emeritus editor of Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication and Ethics and joint editor of George Orwell Studies and is also on the board of an impressive number of journals, among which are Journalism Studies, Digital Journalism, Journalism Education, International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics, Media Ethics, Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, to name just a few. Prof. Keeble was also Chair of the Orwell Society1 (2013-2020) and has authored or edited no less than 44 books. They include Ethics for Journalists and The Newspapers Handbook,2 respectively on their second and fifth editions, as well as several volumes on George Orwell, investigative journalism, and the British media. It was an honour and privilege to talk to Prof. Keeble in a phone interview on March 25, 2021. The conversation was transcribed while some passages were edited for clarity. I hereby express my immense gratitude for his time, generosity, expertise, and humour. It is such a thrill to start our series of interviews in a way that only makes us want more such conversations.