Researcher Identity in Transition: Signals to Identify and Manage Spheres of Activity in a Risk-Career
Main Article Content
Abstract
Within the current higher education context, early career researchers (ECRs) face a ‘risk-career’ in which predictable, stable academic careers have become increasingly rare. Traditional milestones to signal progress toward a sustainable research career are disappearing or subject to reinterpretation, and ECRs need to attend to new or reimagined signals in their efforts to develop a researcher identity in this current context. In this article, we present a comprehensive framework for researcher identity in relation to the ways ECRs recognise and respond to divergent signals across spheres of activity. We illustrate this framework through eight identity stories drawn from our earlier research projects. Each identity story highlights the congruence (or lack of congruence) between signals across spheres of activity and emphasises the different ways ECRs respond to these signals. The proposed comprehensive framework allows for the analysis of researcher identity development through the complex and intertwined activities in which ECRs are involved. We advance this approach as a foundation for a sustained research agenda to understand how ECRs identify and respond to relevant signals, and, consequently, to unravel the complex interplay between signals and spheres of activity evident in struggles to become researchers in a risk-career environment.
Article Details
How to Cite
Castelló, M., Kobayashi, S., McGinn, M., Pechar, H., Vekkaila, J., & Wisker, G. (2015). Researcher Identity in Transition: Signals to Identify and Manage Spheres of Activity in a Risk-Career. Frontline Learning Research, 3(3), 39–54. https://doi.org/10.14786/flr.v3i3.149
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References
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Castelló, M., Iñesta, A., & Corcelles, M. (2013). Learning to write a research article: Ph.D. students’ transitions toward disciplinary writing regulation. Research in the Teaching of English, 47, 442–477.
Clegg, S., (2008). Academic identities under threat? British Educational Research Journal, 34, 329–345. doi:10.1080/01411920701532269
Cyranoski, D., Gilbert, N., Ledford, H., Nayar, A., & Yahia, M. (2011). The PhD factory. Nature, 472, 276–279. doi:10.1038/472276a
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Engeström, Y., & Sannino, A. (2010). Studies of expansive learning: Foundations, findings and future challenges. Educational Research Review, 5, 1–24. doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2009.12.002
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
Goffman, E. (1967). Interaction ritual: Essays on the face-to-face behaviour. London, UK: Allen Lane.
Golde, C. M. (1998). Beginning graduate school: Explaining first‐year doctoral attrition. New Directions for Higher Education, 1998(101), 55–64. doi:10.1002/he.10105
Harré, R., Moghaddam, F. M., Cairnie, T. P., Rothbart, D., & Sabat, S. R. (2009). Recent advances in positioning theory. Theory & Psychology, 19, 5–31. doi:10.1177/0959354308101417
Hemmings, B., Hill, D., & Sharp, J. G. (2013). Critical interactions shaping early academic career development in two higher education institutions. Issues in Educational Research, 23, 35–51. Retrieved from http://www.iier.org.au/
Holland, D. C., Lachicotte, W., Jr., Skinner, D., & Cain, C. (2001). Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Holley, K. (2010). Doctoral student socialization in interdisciplinary fields. In S. K. Gardner & P. Mendoza (Eds.), On becoming a scholar: Socialization and development in doctoral education (pp. 97–112). Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
McAlpine, L., & Amundsen, C. (2009). Identity and agency: Pleasures and collegiality among the challenges of the doctoral journey. Studies in Continuing Education, 31, 109–125. doi:10.1080/01580370902927378
McAlpine, L., Amundsen, C., & Turner, G. (2014). Identity-trajectory: Reframing early career academic experience. British Educational Research Journal, 40, 952–969. doi:10.1002/berj.3123
McAlpine, L., Jazvac-Martek, M., & Hopwood, N. (2009). Doctoral student experience in Education: activities and difficulties influencing identity development. International Journal for Researcher Development, 1, 97–109. doi:10.1108/1759751X201100007
McDaniels, M. (2010). Doctoral student socialization for teaching roles. In S. K. Gardner & P. Mendoza (Eds.), On becoming a scholar: Socialization and development in doctoral education (pp. 29–44). Sterling, VA: Stylus.
McGinn, M. K. (2012a). Being academic researchers: Navigating pleasures and pains in the current Canadian context. Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor, 21, 14–24. Retrieved from http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/workplace/
McGinn, M. K. (Guest Ed.). (2012b). Belonging and non-belonging: Costs and consequences in academic lives [Special issue]. Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor, 19. Retrieved from http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/workplace/
Porfilio, B. J., Gorlewski, J. A., & Pineo-Jensen, S. (Guest Eds.). (2013). The new academic labor market and graduate students [Special issue]. Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor, 22. Retrieved from http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/workplace/
Pyhältö, K., & Keskinen, J. (2012). Doctoral students’ sense of relational agency in their scholarly communities. International Journal of Higher Education, 1(2), 136–149. doi:10.5430/ijhe.v1n2p136
Pyhältö, K., Nummenmaa A. R., Soini, T., Stubb, J., & Lonka, K. (2012). Research on scholarly communities and development of scholarly identity in Finnish doctoral education. In T. S. Ahola & D. M. Hoffman (Eds.), Higher education research in Finland: Emerging structures and contemporary issues (pp. 337–357). Jyväskylä, Finland: Jyväskylä University Press.
Pyhältö, K., Stubb, J., & Lonka, K. (2009). Developing scholarly communities as learning environments for doctoral students. International Journal for Academic Development, 14, 221–232. doi:10.1080/13601440903106551
Strandler, O., Johansson, T., Wisker, G., & Claesson, S. (2014). Supervisor or counsellor?—Emotional boundary work in supervision. International Journal for Researcher Development, 5, 70–82. doi:10.1108/IJRD-03-2014-0002
Sutherland, K., & Taylor, L. (2011). The development of identity, agency and community in the early stages of the academic career. International Journal for Academic Development, 16, 183–186. doi:10.1080/1360144X.2011.596698
Sweitzer, V. (2009). Towards a theory of doctoral student professional identity development: A developmental networks approach. The Journal of Higher Education, 80, 1–33. doi:10.1353/jhe.0.0034
Trede, F., Macklin, R. & Bridges, D. (2012). Professional identity development: a review of the higher education literature. Studies in Higher Education, 37, 365–384. doi:10.1080/03075079.2010.521237
Vekkaila, J., Pyhältö, K., Hakkarainen, K., Keskinen, J., & Lonka, K. (2012). Doctoral students’ key learning experiences in the natural sciences. International Journal for Researcher Development, 3, 154–183. doi:10.1108/17597511311316991
Vekkaila, J., Pyhältö, K., & Lonka, K. (2013a). Experiences of disengagement—A study of doctoral students in the behavioral sciences. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 8, 61–81. Retrieved from http://www.informingscience.org/Journals/IJDS/
Vekkaila, J., Pyhältö, K., & Lonka, K. (2013b). Focusing on doctoral students’ experiences of engagement in thesis work. Frontline Learning Research, 1(2), 10–32. doi:10.14786/flr.v1i2.43
Weber, M. (1947). Science as a profession. In H. H. Gerth & C. W. Mills (Eds.), From Max Weber: Essays in sociology (pp. 129–156). London, UK: Kegan.
Winter, R. (2009). Academic manager or managed academic? Academic identity schisms in higher education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 31, 121–131. doi:10.1080/13600800902825835
Wisker, G., Morris, C., Cheng, M., Masika, R., Warnes, M., Trafford, V., Robinson, G., & Lilly, J. (2010). Doctoral learning journeys: Final report. Retrieved from http://about.brighton.ac.uk/clt/research/clt-research/doctoral-learning-journeys/
Wisker, G., & Robinson, G. (2012). Picking up the pieces: supervisors and doctoral “orphans.” International Journal for Researcher Development, 3, 139–153. doi:10.1108/17597511311316982
Yorke, M. (2009). Faulty signals? Inadequacies of grading systems and a possible response. In G. Joughin (Ed.), Assessment, learning and judgement in higher education (pp. 65–84). New York, NY: Springer Science+Business Media.
Baker, V. L., & Lattuca, L. R. (2010). Developmental networks and learning: Toward an interdisciplinary perspective on identity development during doctoral study. Studies in Higher Education, 35, 807–827. doi:10.1080/03075070903501887
Boden, D., Borrego, M., & Newswander, L. K. (2011). Student socialization in interdisciplinary doctoral education. Higher Education, 62, 741–755. doi:10.1007/s10734-011-9415-1
Camps, A., & Castelló, M. (2013). La escritura académica en la Universidad [Academic writing at university]. REDU. Revista de Docencia Universitaria, 11(1), 17–36. Retrieved from http://www.red-u.net
Cantwell, B. (2011). Academic in-sourcing: International postdoctoral employment and new modes of academic production. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 33, 101–114. doi:10.1080/1360080X.2011.550032
Castelló, M., & Iñesta, A. (2012). Texts as artifacts-in-activity: Developing authorial identity and academic voice in writing academic research papers. In M. Castelló & C. Donahue (Eds.), University writing: Selves and texts in academic societies (pp. 179–200). Bingley, UK: Emerald.
Castelló, M., Iñesta, A., & Corcelles, M. (2013). Learning to write a research article: Ph.D. students’ transitions toward disciplinary writing regulation. Research in the Teaching of English, 47, 442–477.
Clegg, S., (2008). Academic identities under threat? British Educational Research Journal, 34, 329–345. doi:10.1080/01411920701532269
Cyranoski, D., Gilbert, N., Ledford, H., Nayar, A., & Yahia, M. (2011). The PhD factory. Nature, 472, 276–279. doi:10.1038/472276a
Danaher, P. (2015). Forms of capital and transition pedagogies: Researching to learn among postgraduate students and early career academics at an Australian university. To appear in C. Guerin, C. Nygaard, & P. Bartholomew (Eds.), Learning to research—Researching to learn. Oxfordshire, UK: Libri.
Edwards, J. R. (2007). The relationship between person–environment fit and outcomes: An integrative theoretical framework. In C. Ostroff & T. A. Judge (Eds.), Perspectives on organizational fit (pp. 209–258). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Engeström, Y., & Sannino, A. (2010). Studies of expansive learning: Foundations, findings and future challenges. Educational Research Review, 5, 1–24. doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2009.12.002
Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Cambridge, UK: Polity.
Goffman, E. (1967). Interaction ritual: Essays on the face-to-face behaviour. London, UK: Allen Lane.
Golde, C. M. (1998). Beginning graduate school: Explaining first‐year doctoral attrition. New Directions for Higher Education, 1998(101), 55–64. doi:10.1002/he.10105
Harré, R., Moghaddam, F. M., Cairnie, T. P., Rothbart, D., & Sabat, S. R. (2009). Recent advances in positioning theory. Theory & Psychology, 19, 5–31. doi:10.1177/0959354308101417
Hemmings, B., Hill, D., & Sharp, J. G. (2013). Critical interactions shaping early academic career development in two higher education institutions. Issues in Educational Research, 23, 35–51. Retrieved from http://www.iier.org.au/
Holland, D. C., Lachicotte, W., Jr., Skinner, D., & Cain, C. (2001). Identity and agency in cultural worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Holley, K. (2010). Doctoral student socialization in interdisciplinary fields. In S. K. Gardner & P. Mendoza (Eds.), On becoming a scholar: Socialization and development in doctoral education (pp. 97–112). Sterling, VA: Stylus.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
McAlpine, L., & Amundsen, C. (2009). Identity and agency: Pleasures and collegiality among the challenges of the doctoral journey. Studies in Continuing Education, 31, 109–125. doi:10.1080/01580370902927378
McAlpine, L., Amundsen, C., & Turner, G. (2014). Identity-trajectory: Reframing early career academic experience. British Educational Research Journal, 40, 952–969. doi:10.1002/berj.3123
McAlpine, L., Jazvac-Martek, M., & Hopwood, N. (2009). Doctoral student experience in Education: activities and difficulties influencing identity development. International Journal for Researcher Development, 1, 97–109. doi:10.1108/1759751X201100007
McDaniels, M. (2010). Doctoral student socialization for teaching roles. In S. K. Gardner & P. Mendoza (Eds.), On becoming a scholar: Socialization and development in doctoral education (pp. 29–44). Sterling, VA: Stylus.
McGinn, M. K. (2012a). Being academic researchers: Navigating pleasures and pains in the current Canadian context. Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor, 21, 14–24. Retrieved from http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/workplace/
McGinn, M. K. (Guest Ed.). (2012b). Belonging and non-belonging: Costs and consequences in academic lives [Special issue]. Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor, 19. Retrieved from http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/workplace/
Porfilio, B. J., Gorlewski, J. A., & Pineo-Jensen, S. (Guest Eds.). (2013). The new academic labor market and graduate students [Special issue]. Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor, 22. Retrieved from http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/workplace/
Pyhältö, K., & Keskinen, J. (2012). Doctoral students’ sense of relational agency in their scholarly communities. International Journal of Higher Education, 1(2), 136–149. doi:10.5430/ijhe.v1n2p136
Pyhältö, K., Nummenmaa A. R., Soini, T., Stubb, J., & Lonka, K. (2012). Research on scholarly communities and development of scholarly identity in Finnish doctoral education. In T. S. Ahola & D. M. Hoffman (Eds.), Higher education research in Finland: Emerging structures and contemporary issues (pp. 337–357). Jyväskylä, Finland: Jyväskylä University Press.
Pyhältö, K., Stubb, J., & Lonka, K. (2009). Developing scholarly communities as learning environments for doctoral students. International Journal for Academic Development, 14, 221–232. doi:10.1080/13601440903106551
Strandler, O., Johansson, T., Wisker, G., & Claesson, S. (2014). Supervisor or counsellor?—Emotional boundary work in supervision. International Journal for Researcher Development, 5, 70–82. doi:10.1108/IJRD-03-2014-0002
Sutherland, K., & Taylor, L. (2011). The development of identity, agency and community in the early stages of the academic career. International Journal for Academic Development, 16, 183–186. doi:10.1080/1360144X.2011.596698
Sweitzer, V. (2009). Towards a theory of doctoral student professional identity development: A developmental networks approach. The Journal of Higher Education, 80, 1–33. doi:10.1353/jhe.0.0034
Trede, F., Macklin, R. & Bridges, D. (2012). Professional identity development: a review of the higher education literature. Studies in Higher Education, 37, 365–384. doi:10.1080/03075079.2010.521237
Vekkaila, J., Pyhältö, K., Hakkarainen, K., Keskinen, J., & Lonka, K. (2012). Doctoral students’ key learning experiences in the natural sciences. International Journal for Researcher Development, 3, 154–183. doi:10.1108/17597511311316991
Vekkaila, J., Pyhältö, K., & Lonka, K. (2013a). Experiences of disengagement—A study of doctoral students in the behavioral sciences. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 8, 61–81. Retrieved from http://www.informingscience.org/Journals/IJDS/
Vekkaila, J., Pyhältö, K., & Lonka, K. (2013b). Focusing on doctoral students’ experiences of engagement in thesis work. Frontline Learning Research, 1(2), 10–32. doi:10.14786/flr.v1i2.43
Weber, M. (1947). Science as a profession. In H. H. Gerth & C. W. Mills (Eds.), From Max Weber: Essays in sociology (pp. 129–156). London, UK: Kegan.
Winter, R. (2009). Academic manager or managed academic? Academic identity schisms in higher education. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 31, 121–131. doi:10.1080/13600800902825835
Wisker, G., Morris, C., Cheng, M., Masika, R., Warnes, M., Trafford, V., Robinson, G., & Lilly, J. (2010). Doctoral learning journeys: Final report. Retrieved from http://about.brighton.ac.uk/clt/research/clt-research/doctoral-learning-journeys/
Wisker, G., & Robinson, G. (2012). Picking up the pieces: supervisors and doctoral “orphans.” International Journal for Researcher Development, 3, 139–153. doi:10.1108/17597511311316982
Yorke, M. (2009). Faulty signals? Inadequacies of grading systems and a possible response. In G. Joughin (Ed.), Assessment, learning and judgement in higher education (pp. 65–84). New York, NY: Springer Science+Business Media.