Employment opportunities in Australia for educational researchers: A review of recent advertisements
Paper
Paper/Presentation Title | Employment opportunities in Australia for educational researchers: A review of recent advertisements |
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Presentation Type | Paper |
Authors | |
Author | Alderman, Lyn |
Journal or Proceedings Title | Proceedings of the Australian Association for Research in Education Focus Conference (AARE 2007) |
Number of Pages | 22 |
Year | 2008 |
Place of Publication | Australia |
Conference/Event | Australian Association for Research in Education Focus Conference (AARE 2007) |
Event Details | Australian Association for Research in Education Focus Conference (AARE 2007) Event Date 13 to end of 14 Jun 2007 Event Location Canberra, Australia |
Abstract | The Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) by promoting the conference theme has identified a need to be more proactive to ensure growth in the number of educational researchers. Within the Higher Education sector there are a number of methods used to encourage interest in a particular area, and these include policy, funding, sponsorship, employment and scholarships. There are three types of employment for academics: Research, Lecturing and Teaching and Learning and two types of scholarships: either students self-identify the topic or topics are targeted with associated funding. The aim of this study is to review the academic positions and targeted scholarships of Australian Universities and research organisations gathered from advertisements in a national newspaper. This will establish a baseline of recent practice from July to December, 2006 and identify opportunities for researchers in all Disciplines and specifically in education. Results reveal the two main groups for academics are Research and Lecturing, with a small number in Teaching and Learning. Although the Education Discipline is well represented overall (3rd in 12 Disciplines after Health and Science) in terms of research opportunities education then moves to 10th position. A further significant finding is the highly contractual nature of research versus the more stable, tenured environment for lecturing. There are a number of implications arising from this short study. Firstly, the Discipline of Education as a targeted area for research alone is significantly under-represented in the advertised positions but is well represented in lecturing where the role always requires teaching and research. Thus it seems the amount of time devoted to research by academics in the education Discipline is significantly lower than for health or science. Secondly, there are few industry/Government targeted scholarships in the education Discipline therefore any growth in numbers of educational researchers through postgraduate study is not expanded by funding to meet identified needs. In conclusion AARE, an association interested in promoting the growth of educational research, has an obvious need to encourage and review the outcomes of this study and perhaps adopt some of the successful strategies employed by other Disciplines to improve the opportunities for educational researchers in the future. |
Keywords | academics; capacity building; higher education; pedagogy |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 390303. Higher education |
Public Notes | There are no files associated with this item. |
Byline Affiliations | University of Newcastle |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q698v/employment-opportunities-in-australia-for-educational-researchers-a-review-of-recent-advertisements
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