Transitional experiences of Australian health science researchers

Where is academic teaching preparedness

Bibliographic Data

ID22165006
AuthorsSeverine Lamon (0000-0002-3271-6551, Deakin University, corresponding author), Olivia Knowles (0000-0002-5579-1247, Deakin University), Judy Currey (0000-0002-0574-0054, Deakin University)
Year2024
Volume9
Publication date2024-06-05
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueFrontiers in Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2504-284X • E-ISSN: 2504-284X
PublisherFrontiers Media SA (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3389/feduc.2024.1233358
OpenAlexW4399355097
LanguageEN
References cited19

Academic career development relies on a combination of teaching and research skills. In Australia, it is common for recent Doctor of Philosophy graduates to have a short-term post-doctoral research experience to build publication track-record and increase grant competitiveness, before securing a combined research and teaching or ‘academic’ role at a university. Other scientists work as full-time researchers for several years before transitioning to academic roles with expectations they can teach. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of health and biomedical science researchers transitioning into academic roles using a mixed methods design. Sixty-six participants working in health and biomedical sciences at over 20 Australian Universities who had been in an academic role for 5 years or less completed an online survey. Of 66 participants, 18 (27%) had never been in a research-only role before, while 48 (63%) had held a research-only role for up to 11 years before starting their current academic role. Findings showed most academics were not trained nor equipped to successfully undertake scholarly teaching. They reported a lack of awareness of teaching expectations, practical resources, and direct support provision at the start of their appointment. For former researchers specifically, these experiences led to low confidence and poor enjoyment in their academic role, with the potential to decrease overall teaching quality, student learning and student satisfaction. We postulate that these issues may be mitigated by the implementation of teaching-specific training programs catering for the research-only background of staff entering health and biomedical academic roles in the higher education workforce

Engineering ethics · Engineering management · Health science · Medical education · Political science · Preparedness · Computer Science · Diversity and Career in Medicine · Engineering · Health and Medical Research Impacts · Innovations in Medical Education · Medicine

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