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Second career academics, or ‘pracademics’ are ‘former or current practitioners who are now university academics’ (Dickinson et al., 2020, p. 290). They come from a wide variety of backgrounds including law, journalism and business as well as disciplines such as nursing, teaching, physiotherapy and sports rehabilitation.

Pracademics are a growing group of professionals in higher education following expansions in the sector since the early 1990s and the subsequent rise in the number and variety of vocational courses.

As an educational developer and second career academic or ‘pracademic’ myself, I have long been interested in the experiences of those who choose to work in higher education (HE). After roles in recruitment and teaching, I became a visiting lecturer in education and then, in 2018, course lead of the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP), a course for new lecturers. Over several years, I’ve had the privilege of working closely with pracademics, hearing individual stories of change and deepening my understanding of a unique career trajectory.

My doctoral research explores this career transition to academia in greater depth. Nine participants joined the study, each with between six and 20 years in practice and between one and three years’ teaching experience in HE. Disciplines represented in the study were primary education, sports rehabilitation, sports coaching, physiotherapy and learning development.

Exploring career transition through arts-based educational research

I used arts-based educational research methods over a series of three interlinked interviews as a way of eliciting thoughts, feelings and reflections on career transition, identity and possible selves. As Kara (2020, p. 29) asserts, arts-based research methods privilege ‘play, intuition, serendipity, imagination, and the unexpected as resources for making sense’ and I wanted to invoke all these in my research.

The first interview used reflective texts written during the PGCAP as a memory prompt. Each participant re-read their own text, and we discussed their journey into higher education, the reason for their career change and experiences to date. Reasons for choosing academia were varied but included burnout or disillusionment in a former career, family influences and a strong desire to contribute to the education of future practitioners in their field. For many, academia was not initially as they had expected and feelings of dissonance, imposter syndrome and overwhelm were common. However, autonomy and flexibility in working practices were highly valued as well as supportive colleagues and the opportunities for professional development.

‘For many, academia was not initially as they had expected and feelings of dissonance, imposter syndrome and overwhelm were common.’

For the second interview, participants took three photographs in their working context. The photographs were used to explore connection (or disconnection) to space and place, revealing how participants situated themselves both physically and emotionally in relation to the university. Some photographs presented the alienation of too much time online leading to feeling undervalued and disconnected. However, other photographs celebrated the beauty of the campus and the pleasure of being able to access a wide range of facilities. It was clear that strong links with former professional identities remained and lecturer identity was tentative and still developing. Many mentioned imposter syndrome and that they didn’t feel able to claim the title of ‘lecturer’ (yet). Others found the title of lecturer inadequate to capture the breadth of the role, or to be misleading as it implied talking at students instead of facilitating learning.

The third interview invited participants to choose two or three postcards from a range of images of art, architecture and nature. These images were the catalyst for discussions about future possible selves inviting the imaginary construction of what might be in the future. A strong theme was yearning for a better work–life balance with more time spent calmly in nature among trees or beside water. The liminal space of career transition is particularly acute for pracademics as they navigate a partial loss of a former identity or career while at the same time seek to assimilate to academia. Many were not relinquishing their former career, and indeed were continuing to work part-time alongside lecturing. Identity adaptation therefore appeared to be a gradual process.

Valuing the lived experience of pracademics

Arts-based educational research methods facilitated an in-depth exploration of the career transition to academia. Although this career transition had presented a variety of challenges to each pracademic in the study, all were passionate about sharing their learning with students and supporting the next generation of practitioners and industry professionals. Recommendations are that universities should do more to support these valuable professionals, in particular to acknowledge and value their past and ongoing professional expertise. Further research would be beneficial to fully understand and evaluate induction practices for pracademics and how these practices might better support the transition to academia and long-term flourishing in an academic career.

References

Dickinson, J., Fowler, A., & Griffiths, T. L. (2020). Pracademics? Exploring transitions and professional identities in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 47(2), 290–304.

Kara, H., (2020). Creative research methods: A practical guide (2nd ed). Policy Press.