Mid-Career Change: Benefits and challenges of leaving industry for academia

Parks, Shannon; Dietz, Laura J.

doi:10.18260/1-2--28666

Cited by 1 publication

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The five questions and their multiple-choice answers are presented below. A number of the aspects listed in questions 2 and 3 are the same or similar to other authors who have investigated the issue of industrial engineering professionals transitioning to an academic position [1][2][3]5]. Additionally, other researchers have evaluated the importance of peer networking (question 4) in such a transition [1,5]…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…The most obvious challenge is the adjustment to teaching rather than working in an engineering production, design, or consulting environment for industry. However, the information presented here includes a myriad of challenges beyond teaching, including developing an academic research program through direction of graduate work, and satisfying the various professional development, service, and research requirements expected of university professors [1,2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are experiences and skills developed from working in industry that can help a new faculty member in transitioning to an academic position [2,4]. These include flexibility, trying new things, having an enthusiastic attitude, and effective time management [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conversely, there are certain skills that could be helpful to a new academic that are not likely to have been developed while in an industrial position [3]. These skills or experiences include motivating students to learn, assisting struggling students, effective course planning and delivery, starting an independent research program, obtaining external funding, writing rigorous assignments and tests, handling students in the classroom, student recruitment, and collaborating with other faculty members [2,4]. With all the myriad demands of a full-time academic position, work-life balance can be a major stressor for new faculty [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With all the myriad demands of a full-time academic position, work-life balance can be a major stressor for new faculty [5]. Other stressors may include mastering teaching skills, allotting time for research, infrequent feedback on performance, and lack of experienced peer faculty that are willing to mentor new faculty [2]. For a transitioning tenuretrack faculty member, the learning curve can be steep.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Work-in-Progress: Engineers Transitioning from an Industrial Position to Full-time Academic Position in an Engineering College

Alexander,

RAHMANI

2022 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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This Work-in-Progress paper presents some unique challenges an engineer may face in transitioning to a full-time academic position into an ABET-accredited College of Engineering from an industry position, and the findings are based on survey of a limited number of faculty who have made this transition. The intent of the effort presented in this paper is to lay the foundation for a more extensive future survey of the unique challenges the professionals face in making this career change, and to obtain feedback from other engineering faculty in the US who view this transition as a unique challenge. The authors' personal experience indicates that this transition involves factors beyond the adjustment to teaching as a primary activity, including aspects such as rethinking one's client base, adjusting to research in an academic environment as compared to an industrial environment, and managing numerous goals and time demands posed from various university sources. The survey results indicated a number of similarities amongst the nine respondents, as well as a few unexpected results that are discussed in this paper. These results, along with discussions that will arise from the presentation of this paper at the conference, will serve our future expansion and development and dissemination of this survey that targets faculty in Hispanic-serving institutions.

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