Our team-based research explores the nature of academic work and academic careers amongst early career academics. It takes a longitudinal qualitative approach, which enables an individual biographical focus as well as opportunities to look across cases. In this paper, we use three individuals as illustrative studies of how early career academics view teaching in relation to the other demands and priorities of contemporary academic practice. All recognise the importance and complexities of teaching in consolidating academic identity and gaining institutional and collegial legitimacy; however, as their identity-trajectories progress and confidence in their academic identities increases, the spaces for teaching are renegotiated in the face of personal circumstances, research commitments and institutional expectations.

Keywords: Early career academics, longitudinal research, place of teaching