Academic careers in the 21st century: Making sense of new opportunities and challenges

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Research and Development in Higher Education Vol. 23: Flexible Learning for a Flexible Society

July, 2000, 755 pages
Published by
Lesley Richardson & John Lidstone
ISBN
0908557477
Abstract 

What opportunities will there be for academic careers in the 21st century, and how should academics prepare for those opportunities? This paper responds to these questions, examining issues related to the emergent conditions of academic work, including the issue of employment conditions. It addresses the paradox facing institutions of higher education: the need for highly skilled and flexible staff who are committed to their work and their concurrent need to be able to flexibly change the composition of their workforce in response to changes in external demands and opportunities. Academics should not expect universities, as employers, to be the primary long-term supporter of their career development. This invites academics to re-shape themselves as individuals who can be productive in a rapidly changing world through active self-management. In turn, this will require that academics recognize what is happening to their career opportunities, and invest in the development of competencies for such self-management of those opportunities, including know-why, know- how, and know-who competencies. The message is that it may be better to think in terms of a professional career, and of relationships with employers more flexibly, as separate but related opportunities.