Who is the newer researcher into higher education? Locating ourselves in shifting terrains

Abstract

This article aims to deconstruct the underpinning tenets of the term ‘newer researcher into higher education’. In recognition of the ambiguities of the term, we begin by questioning the nature of the field(s) of research into higher education (HE). \ud \ud Secondly, we critique the policy discourses associated with the term ‘newer researcher’. Then, with a view to illustrating the over-linear assumptions of such discourses, the article articulates the biographies of practising researchers in this field through narrative reconstructions of the five authors’ own routes as researchers into HE, openly acknowledging their temporalities and serendipitous conditionalities. Finally, we consider the nature of a career in the context of the professionalisation of routes into HE research. Our concluding remarks return us to the question of the status of HE research and to suggestions of positive ways to embrace the dilemmas we face

On being the ‘gender person’ in an academic department: constructions, configurations and implications

“…Secondly, academic mobility has played a rolein the case of France, for example, many French gender academics are returnees from gender studies degrees in the US, which has undoubtedly had an effect on the canons of gender knowledge (Boyle, 2012;Fassin, 2009). Thirdly, while the national and institutional configurations of the 'gender person' construct may differ, there are international common trends which are enforcing the precarity of academic careers (Hancock, Clegg, Crossouard, Kahn, & Weller, 2016;Herschberg, Benschop, & van Den Brink, 2018;Nadolny & Ryan, 2013). As such, the construct of the 'gender person' is underpinned by a generalized precaritythe probability of remaining on fixed-term, insecure contracts for a long period after the doctorate (Lopes & Devan, 2018) as well as a specific precarity, which is related to the insecure and changeable position of gender knowledge in HEIs (Pereira, 2017;Stromquist, 2001).…”

Exploring multiple identities: An embodied perspective on academic development and higher education research

“…I use the term 'field' because HE has been seen to evolve as a field (Jones, 2012), with the issue of whether it is a legitimate and academic discipline or not discussed widely (notably in a special issue of Higher Education Research and Development published in 2012). In brief, HE research is an essentially contested concept (Hanckock, Clegg, Crossouard, Kahn, & Weller, 2015). This means that there is no agreed, fixed definition as to what it constitutes (Gingell & Winch, 1999).…”

Doctorates and Employability: New Perspectives for Doctoral Education

“…The fruition of a doctoral programme induces profound transformations in subjects who must constantly re-evaluate themselves, renegotiating other roles, such as those of being a student, a researcher, or a professional (Harrison 2008;Crossouard, Pryor 2008). The diversification of outbound employment contexts (Hancock et al 2016) further complicates this process, which is played out in the interaction between university space, personal space, professional space, and workspace (Pratt et al 2013). According to this view, subjects and their professional and identity development must, therefore, be placed at the centre of this reflection, with reference to both the definition of formative pathways and to employability.…”