Lynn McAlpine

The book asks how we can make sense of career paths for PhD graduates, something that has rarely been systematically studied. It offers a coherent synthesis of the empirically-based insights that arose from the experiences of 48 early career researchers, who were participants in a 10-year qualitative longitudinal research program. The book has the power to inform other researchers’ conceptual and methodological approaches to the study of post-PhD career trajectories. The authors draw on the conceptual lens of ‘identity-trajectory’, which emerged from their research program, to examine the decision-making processes underpinning the careers of PhD graduates, whether contingent researchers and teachers, assistant professors within the academy or professionals elsewhere. The book highlights the role of personal agency in negotiating academic and non-academic work and careers within broader personal lives. It will be compelling reading for researchers and students working in the areas of Education and Sociology, particularly those with an interest in examining career development and decision-making.

The book asks how we can make sense of career paths for PhD graduates, something that has rarely been systematically studied. It offers a coherent synthesis of the empirically-based insights that arose from the experiences of 48 early career researchers, who were participants in a 10-year qualitative longitudinal research program. The book has the power to inform other researchers’ conceptual and methodological approaches to the study of post-PhD career trajectories. The authors draw on the conceptual lens of ‘identity-trajectory’, which emerged from their research program, to examine the decision-making processes underpinning the careers of PhD graduates, whether contingent researchers and teachers, assistant professors within the academy or professionals elsewhere. The book highlights the role of personal agency in negotiating academic and non-academic work and careers within broader personal lives. It will be compelling reading for researchers and students working in the areas of Education and Sociology, particularly those with an interest in examining career development and decision-making.

This book argues that post-PhD career planning should ideally begin at the same time as the PhD itself. Drawing from ten years of research and stories of close to 50 individuals, each chapter focuses on the stories of individuals who share common career intentions and how they negotiate these both before, during and after their studies. Each career trajectory is different as individuals planned and made decisions in the face of both expected and unexpected work, personal experiences and responsibilities. The book concludes with resources to help those who are currently planning or reflecting on their own career trajectories.

This book draws on research in Australia, Canada, UK, and US into the experiences of doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers and new academics. Each chapter develops research-informed implications for policy and practice to support developing academics, and concludes with commentaries by early career academics, developers and administrators.

This book draws on research in Australia, Canada, UK, and US into the experiences of doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers and new academics. Each chapter develops research-informed implications for policy and practice to support developing academics, and concludes with commentaries by early career academics, developers and administrators.