Virginia King

Self-portrait with mortar board: a study of academic identity using the map, the novel and the grid

This paper introduces the ‘map’, the ‘novel’ and the ‘grid’, three strategies inspired by the creative arts that potentially enrich higher education research by revealing layers of truth otherwise difficult to discern. The ‘map’ was inspired by the Map of an Englishman, an etching by Grayson Perry RA. It is used to create and analyse a visualisation of academic identity. The ‘novel’ depends upon finding an appropriate work of fiction to provide an analytical framework of metaphorical themes which help to draw out social and cultural issues. The ‘grid’ visually encodes the themes underlying large quantities of electronic communication to create a graphical précis of discourse at a chosen point in time. I demonstrate these strategies in an autoethnographic study of academic identity. My findings echo and enhance those of other studies into academic identity, suggesting the strategies could be helpful ways of seeing and understanding the research context.

Understanding academic identity through metaphor

Metaphors used by higher education teachers in their narratives of academic life provide insight into aspects of academic identity. Drawing on an international study of leader/follower dynamics, the teachers’ narratives reveal how academics interpret their interactions with leaders; the perceived distance between expectations and experience, and the subsequent impact on motivations. Applying Bourdieus ‘thinking tools’ of field, habitus and capital as an analytical framework for revealing participants’ conceptualisations of academia enriches our understanding of how workplace ideals are perceived to resonate with academic reality. Metaphors used by teachers indicate both alignment and dissonance between expectations of leaders and the reality of being led. The study recognises the effect of experiences with leaders on identity and how followers can be effectively proactive. Using these findings we posit that the wider organisational aspects of identity which may trouble newer academics could be addressed through guided theoretical and conceptual critique.

Collaborative reflections on using island maps to express new lecturers’ academic identity

New lecturers may find the notion of academic identity difficult to grasp, yet it potentially provides them with a means of revealing issues of self, career and work-life balance. In this paper, we introduce an innovative research strategy and democratic research framework which have enabled us to explore new lecturers’ academic identities in self-revelatory ways. This collaborative inquiry was undertaken by two teaching staff and four former students of a postgraduate certificate in higher education professional practice at a UK post-92 university. Through our innovative research strategy, one’s academic identity is conceptualised as the map of an island featuring actual or potential personal characteristics, qualities and interests. The visual metaphors and clustering of these attributes, together with individuals’ reflective commentaries on creating their own academic identity maps, lead us tentatively to characterise four alternative expressions of identity: the multifaceted whole, the layered self, the interlinked self and the fragmented self.

Evidencing impact of educational developments: the ‘influence wheel’ and its use in a CETL context

Large‐scale educational development initiatives are widely used to trial and introduce change. One such is the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) initiative in England, now drawing to a close. An interim evaluation of this initiative revealed some excellent practice but no major impact. As CETLs strive to gain or sustain funding, their need to evidence their impact gains importance. This article considers the notion of impact and contends that the audience dictates the meaning and measurement of the term. It reviews the evolution and trialling of an innovative tool, the ‘influence wheel’, which attempts to show selected aspects of impact graphically as an interactive web page. Developed through an action research project funded by the Centre for Inter‐professional e‐Learning (CIPeL CETL), the tool employs the doughnut graph facility within Microsoft Office Excel in a novel way. The tool models CIPeL’s influence at local, national and international levels. A small‐scale evaluation of the tool found that it communicated aspects of impact effectively despite issues of usability and data completeness. The particular context is illustrative of how the influence wheel can be used. The tool has potential to reflect alternative understandings of impact, and may therefore be of interest to others in further and higher education seeking to communicate project achievements visually.

The missing measure? Academic identity and the induction process

ABSTRACT The effectiveness of academic induction is under-monitored by higher education institutions (HEIs) despite growing evidence that some academics, facing increased expectations and rising accountability within higher education (HE), perceive a lack of support from their institution. In this paper, we argue that HEIs should follow the example of other sectors to promote socialisation through adequate and supportive scaffolding of the multiple responsibilities that new academics are required to take on. We offer a dual lens into the induction of early career academics in the contemporary university. Using corpus analysis techniques, we survey recent research into induction from the fields of HE studies and of human resources (HR). The HR literature displays a greater emphasis on organisational socialisation but also on performance measures. Secondly, drawing on an empirical study of researcher experiences within a measured and funding-directed environment, we surface the challenges faced by new academics and the tensions of juggling multiple roles and identities. We find that induction programmes that encourage and educate individuals to take responsibility for their socialisation can enhance positive outcomes. Paradoxically, traditional, one-size-fits-all, induction that focuses on the ‘doing’ of academic practice leaves individuals unequally prepared for academic life. The empirical study findings echo claims in the literature that communities of practice can act to positively support newer academics. The induction challenge then is to provide personalised, professional scaffolding for scholarly development and to monitor its effectiveness, while seeking opportunities to build a more supportive academic culture.

What Works? A Critique of Appreciative Inquiry as a Research Method/ology

Abstract Appreciative Inquiry (AI) has gained prominence as an organizational development approach. For over 15 years, it has had varied use in higher education research as a methodology and as a collection of methods. Perhaps the most consistently used, yet most criticized, aspect of AI is the positive stance that its adherents adopt. In this chapter, we survey the prevalence and use of AI, both in the wider literature and in higher education research. We offer our own case study to illustrate the practicalities of employing it and discuss our findings. We suggest that educational researchers are overlooking relevant AI research published within other disciplines; that our own and other case stories can provide guidance for the use of AI in academic contexts; and that AI’s collaborative and positive standpoint has potential as a research methodology influencing policy.

A product-based model for successful online learning projects

We consider the diverse needs and expectations of the stakeholders in online learning projects. It highlights the difficulties of meeting those requirements and the pressures on the implementation team to focus on timescale and budget at the expense of quality. It proposes the adoption of a product-based model to support the introduction and maintenance of online learning. This model is adapted from the UK Governments project management standard, PRINCE 2, which encapsulates best practice. The product-based model enables the project team to define and document requirements in text and diagrammatic form. This process encourages the inclusion of actions and quality checks within the project which will help to ensure that what is finally delivered meets stakeholder expectations. A generic product-based model is proposed, informed by experience of the introduction of online learning at Coventry University.

It’s very different here: practice-based academic staff induction and retention

ABSTRACT The sociologist, Max Weber (1864–1920), suggested that few could withstand the frustrations of academic life. As the strategic management of human resources begins to differentiate higher education institutions (HEIs) in league tables, the costs of voluntary staff turnover (attrition) become more significant. In this paper, we consider links between induction (orientation) and retention for academic staff. We report on a qualitative study of thirty academic staff in five United Kingdom HEIs who were recruited on the basis of their professional experience. Their practice-based knowledge lends our participants particular insight into their HEI induction experience which, where found wanting, led in several cases to resignation. We analyse the induction experiences of our participants to glean explanations for these perceived shortcomings. Since induction interventions are thought to lead to improved retention, we recommend policy and practice changes to induction, which may benefit all academic staff.

Creative Research Strategies for Exploring Academic Identity

In this chapter, we encourage the exploration of academic identity using less conventional research strategies which involve metaphor. The first examines metaphors used within narratives to delve deeper into participants’ academic stories, while the other employs visual metaphors to represent academic identity.

Visualizing strategic change in an educational development centre with product-based analysis

Product-based analysis (PBA) is a new way of modelling the strategic direction of an educational development centre (EDC). It was developed within an English EDC to complement other strategic techniques, providing a means of visualizing the overall strategy. This critique of PBA is set in the context of global university reforms, restructurings and economic constraints that EDCs mirror in miniature. The case for PBA is demonstrated through two exemplars, one retrospective, the other applied to the same group, now dispersed several years on, as it sets out a collaborative strategy to address the future uncertainties shared by many EDCs.