Redefining success in academia

The pathway to a successful academic career is not the clear route it once was. The newly minted postdoc looking to progress to lecturer then tenure and towards seniority, perhaps leadership, must now contend with a landscape buffeted by funding volatility, changing policy priorities and student demographics, job precarity, course closures and a shifting balance between teaching and research positions. Technology has complicated promotion metrics such as publications and citations and, in the US especially, government policy has upended grant expectations.

It’s no wonder then that many scholars are asking what it means to succeed in academia when “making it” is a moving target, as Rachel Hagan from Liverpool John Moores University has put it. Could an alternative pathway – one that prioritises teaching, service or impact, for example – be a more secure and professionally satisfying way forward? 

This collection of resources gathers advice on reimagining the university career narrative, building your academic profile, making a teaching-only path work, how to navigate change, frustration and setbacks, and ensuring all achievement is visible and valued.

Build your academic progress into a clear narrative

In a volatile, noisy sector, academics who take the path less travelled will need to ensure their achievements are clearly signposted. Don’t assume your work will speak for itself. This might involve evidencing steady development across teaching, research and leadership, building authority in your field or acquiring skills to interact with the media or policymakers, as these articles explain. 

Claim your narrative in academia by building a ‘golden thread’: Steady momentum and a clear narrative that links your work across research, teaching and leadership can help others see the direction and impact of your career, say Karen Lander from the University of Manchester and Joseph L. Brooks from Keele University.

Lessons in academic profile-building from those who know how: In this Campus+ webinar, academics from UCL, Al Akhawayn University, Queen’s University Belfast and Nazarbayev University discuss how to build a reputation as an expert in your scholarly field.

Why researchers should consider a narrative CV: The narrative CV moves away from the usual academic metrics of publications and grants and allows university researchers to tell the story of their journey and impact. Here, academics from Heriot-Watt University offer practical tips.

‘An academic career is not a heptathlon’: The secret to establishing a career in academia is focus and deliberate choices. Here, Robert MacIntosh from the University of the West of Scotland explains why persistence and planning are more important than ever.

Two ways to think about your promotion and tenure file: How to build evidence of your academic career successes when the expectations keep changing? Here, Kate Vacek shares two approaches.

Take career success beyond traditional metrics

If the wider aim of universities is to educate, solve intractable problems and improve society, then academic career success should be measured in terms that stretch beyond funding and citations. This could involve making real-world impact integral to research work or breaking the principal investigator mould to tackle complex healthcare challenges. It also puts an onus on managers to listen differently when it comes to career support. Read on for alternative ways to find meaning and measure achievement.

‘Success in academia needs a metric for how scholarship improves lives’: If we want universities to address society’s greatest challenges, we should ask ourselves how our work makes the world better in tangible, measurable ways. Bobby Vance from Virginia Tech explains how this question has shaped his career. 

Why the ‘lone wolf’ principal investigator no longer works: Teams that integrate clinical insight and academic enquiry result in better academic outputs, increased researcher well-being and a sense of community and shared ownership, write Zoë Walters and Tim Underwood from the University of Southampton.

An academic career is rarely a straight line: Kinga Vörös from Semmelweis University offers reflections as an early career neuroscientist and why the journey is most meaningful when research reaches patients.

Why university leaders must listen differently in one-to-ones: When leaders and managers acknowledge diverse perspectives, avoid dominating discussions and reflect what they have heard, it sets the tone for more inclusive, respectful dialogue, as Annie Owen from the University of Southampton explains.

The alternative pathways to professorship

A key challenge of taking a less traditional career track is a dearth of promotion opportunities and support. The “third way” through education leadership or professional practice, rather than teaching and/or research, is an example. This is where mentorship, participation in committees, networks and preparedness to forge your own initiatives and shape your identity become invaluable. Find inspiration in these articles.

The ‘third way’ academic: becoming an education-focused professor: Career development tips for higher education professionals who take an education-focused pathway, as shared by academics from the universities of Bristol and Exeter, Aston University and King’s College London.

The human side of the practitioner-to-academic pipeline: Universities want academics with real-world experience – yet the identity shift required often goes unnoticed. Here, Asrif Yusoff from the University of Greenwich explains how to improve support.

It’s time to fully support promotions on the education pathway: Specialist teaching roles such as librarians and learning designers might not map perfectly on to criteria for professorial posts but they make significant contributions to the student experience and should be rewarded as such, argues Harriet Dunbar-Morris.

Establishing identity when your role seems undervalued

Countless scholars across universities provide the wisdom institutions need to function but do not see their contributions reflected in promotion criteria or traditional metrics. As Daniel Goss writes: “If non-research faculty such as adjuncts and lecturers disappeared, an entire domain of knowledge crucial for instruction would disappear with them”. Here’s how those in part-time, non-research or graduate teaching assistant roles can reinforce their professional identity.

How part-time lecturers can protect their professional identity: You can teach hundreds of students yet still feel like a visitor in your own institution. Katherine Mansfield and Yaz Osho from the University of Westminster give tips for finding a sense of belonging as a part-time visiting lecturer.

The anxieties of non-research faculty at a research university: The worth of know-how – as opposed to know-that – is enhanced when instructors are full-time, eligible for tenure and materially supported in their collective endeavour, writes Daniel M. Gross from the University of California, Irvine.

How compassionate spaces support career development for GTAs: Bringing graduate teaching assistants together in a safe space not only develops career identity, it fosters belonging, respect and care, argues Kristy Campbell from King’s College London.

How to find your way through change and setbacks

Although academia is its own type of career, it still ebbs and flows. And managing challenges and setbacks, beginnings and endings is a key part of the journey. These articles look at navigating the system when conditions work against you, changing paths, re-evaluating for a new stage and rebuilding after job loss.

Service and creative practice as a university administrator: Jim Bassett from Virginia Tech took on the position of director for simple but meaningful reasons: deepening the level of service to students and colleagues and extending creative practice.

How to divorce your academic discipline: Leaving the silo of your scholarly subject can be painful. But with a break-up can come a chance to rekindle academic passion. Here, Darshan Vigneswaran from the University of Amsterdam looks at how to move on.

How to reclaim your identity after academic job loss: When a university role ends abruptly, through redundancy, restructuring or a contract that isn’t renewed, the loss can feel like grief. Victoria Gibbon shares a structured journalling exercise that helped her rebuild a professional identity.

Find purpose in the ‘near-end’ season of an academic career: As familiar markers of achievement fade and professional identity shifts, Wendy Cowan and Bridgette Walker from Athens State University explore how academics can shape their legacy.

Academia can never be ‘just a job’ (and why that is OK): Academia doesn’t conform to the regular nine-to-five, and pretending otherwise will not fix working conditions that are broken, argues Sorin Krammer from the University of Southampton.

Ways leadership can move the dial on hiring and promotion

Promotion boards and senior staff responsible for recruitment can think outside the box about who and what gets recognised, as these articles explain.

Let’s rethink recruitment for an inclusive university culture: Recruitment traditions could be more detrimental to an inclusive culture than we think. Rachael Cornwall from Buckinghamshire New University suggests how to tweak the process to allow every candidate to show what they can do.

Making public work count in academia: David Perry from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities offers practical advice for universities and departments that want to begin including public work meaningfully in hiring, tenure and promotion standards. 

A blueprint for hiring innovative educators: Don’t let well-rounded candidates with real-world experience slip through the cracks. Asghar Zaidi from the University of Oxford explains how academics in Pakistan improved the situation.

Rethinking recognition and reward to rebalancing research and teaching: Adrian Lam from the University of Hong Kong looks at what changes to recognition and reward in higher education would help academics better balance a focus on research with the need for quality teaching.

Turn teaching from an obligation to a career-building skill set

If teaching is presented as a chore, scholars will have trouble valuing the skills that could underpin professional practice and set them up for a satisfying career. Here’s how to give educators’ tools the prominence they deserve.

How teachers can learn to lead: Success in the classroom doesn’t automatically make you a good manager. Garth Elzerman from Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University offers advice on building trust with the colleagues you lead.

When teacher training mirrors the classroom we want to build: Ka Yan So from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology outlines how to help postgraduate students see educating as professional practice, rather than an obligation.

How to help postdoctoral researchers gain experience in teaching: Early career researchers increasingly require teaching experience for job applications or promotion. Nicola Englyst and Delphine Boche from the University of Southampton explain how to provide postdocs on a research grant-funded pathway with educational experience.