By Nathaniel Bettio
Through various workshops over the past four months, insights as to what a career in academia would look like was thoroughly articulated myself and a small group of students. Content discussed within workshops and presentations, as well as the opportunities to sit in multiple journal critiques provided a sound basis as to what responsibilities an academic would have at various stages of their career. Throughout this article details of an academic’s role, as well as their prospective work life balance and areas of their profession I found interesting will be discussed.
When thinking of a career in academia my initial thoughts frequently lead me to thinking of a professor teaching in a classroom setting. While it is no argument that teaching students is an academic’s responsibility, it is only a component of their work atmosphere, approximately 40% of their time. Alongside teaching academics also perform work within a research role for approximately 40% of their time and round out the remaining time allotment (20%) through providing services for their institution of employment. From my perspective, the breakdown of an academic’s responsibilities is very interesting for a couple of reasons. To successfully navigate through an academic career, individuals should encompass both introverted and extroverted traits. Whilst teaching, a lecturer or professor can be viewed as the leader of the classroom and must be able to effectively articulate their ideas, communicate with students and receive feedback as to what topics and teaching strategies are most useful and effective. One must be able to level with students to understand their needs, whilst ensuring they are confident and interested in course material. A great tactic discussed within teaching workshops was a professor’s choice of physically lowering themselves to the height of students sitting during classroom discussions. By doing this, you remove the intimidating element of a more qualified individual towering over students, allowing for a more relaxed, eased way of communication.
Balancing the social requirements of an academic is their commitment to research. An academic’s research should take up roughly the same amount of time as their teaching component and is spend pursing individual interest. Although different research exercises may be performed that involve collaboration, an academic should feel comfortable and enjoy working alone when analyzing research, preparing journals, and performing other routine duties. The final aspect of an academic’s career is service. Service can come in many forms and can be tailored towards an academic’s interests, as an academic institution offers numerous extracurricular activities. Services can range from coaching a sports team to helping with an academic club, allowing a professor to engage with students outside of the classroom. The three-component facet of an academic’s career is quite interesting, as it requires them working within different roles, with different people, and with different levels of engagements throughout their tenure.
Exploring the research element in an academics career further, I found additional interest in the freedom a professor has in what research topics they can choose. Once becoming tenured, a professor is somewhat free to research whatever their interests are within their departments scope. This provides professors and other academia staff with the flexibility to follow their passions and work within refined areas of their expertise. This breaks the traditional protocol of an employee where deliverables are communicated from the top of an organization, restricting the creativity an employee has to the expectations of their superiors. This being said, Universities place a high level of trust in professors to use their time efficiently and effectively when representing their institution. This level of freedom also expands to their teaching areas and styles when teaching class. Professors are also able to teach prevalent topics that they feel best prepare students for the real world how they deem fit, within the scope of the program.
A final aspect of academia which piqued my interest was the high level of support within the community when it comes to conveying research and seeking publications. Through attending numerous critique sessions of an academics research I was able to witness an academic presenting their research and/or rough drafts of their prospective article, accompanied by an exceedingly high level of feedback from other academics in their industry. It was easy to notice the interest all attendees had, and their genuine interest in strengthening the rough draft of the article presented to a level where it could be published.
A career in academia is fascinating due to its unique elements relative to the typical 9-5 career path one would otherwise follow. An academic’s career is threefold through their commitment to research, teaching and service to their institution. This, in conjunction with their freedom in research and teaching, and the strong community presence produce an excellent career for those with an interest in teaching or have a passion for a certain topic.
About Nathaniel
Nathaniel is currently a Master of Accounting Student at the University of Waterloo. After graduation he will be joining the workforce as a junior accountant at an accounting firm. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, photography, and travelling.