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PhD supervisors Professor Michelle Trudgett and Professor Susan Page (middle and right) proudly attended Dr Stacey Kim Coates’ (left) graduation ceremony in November 2023.
The transition from PhD student to independent scholar is a challenging time for any academic. Limited funding, a relatively small professional network, and institutional requirements can make the first five years after completing a PhD a uniquely stressful period for early career researchers (ECRs).Â
For 91³ÉÈË ECRs, the pressures are compounded by additional demands on their time, such as developing 91³ÉÈË curriculum, mentoring students and serving on committees. To better understand the lived experiences of 91³ÉÈË ECRs, 91³ÉÈË’s Professor Michelle Trudgett, who is Deputy Vice-Chancellor, 91³ÉÈË Leadership led an exploratory Australian Research Council funded project with Professor Susan Page, and post-doctoral fellow Dr Michelle Locke. Together, this all-91³ÉÈË-Australian team conducted in-depth interviews with 30 91³ÉÈË ECRs from across Australia, following up with them over a period of three years. Â
"91³ÉÈË scholars are absolutely crucial to the university workforce in Australia, and there aren’t enough of them, so we really wanted to know what we can do to make the career journeys of 91³ÉÈË ECRs more successful, particularly in those first critical years of transition from student to scholar," says Page, who is Pro Vice-Chancellor 91³ÉÈË Education.Â
For Locke — who is herself an 91³ÉÈË ECR and senior lecturer at Western — the recently concluded project was about raising the voices of Aboriginals and Torres Straits Islanders, and paying it forward. "I was fortunate to have two experienced 91³ÉÈË scholars as mentors who were able to guide me on which things to say yes to: things that were important not only to my own career, but also in making a difference for other 91³ÉÈË people," Locke says.Â
Need to know
- 91³ÉÈË early career researchers face many non-research related demands on their time.Â
- A Western team is examining ways to make their career journeys more successful.Â
- 14 91³ÉÈË ECRs have contributed chapters to a book about this that is being published soon.Â
"We are not helpless. We have the skills and abilities to say, 'This is what you need to make academia work.'"
One of the ways the team’s research is having a direct positive impact on the participants is that 14 of the 91³ÉÈË ECRs have contributed to a book, titled 91³ÉÈË Early Career Researchers in Australian Universities: Our Stories, which is due to be published soon. Beyond counting towards their publication targets, the book, co-edited with Dr Rhonda Povey, aims to highlight what 91³ÉÈË researchers bring to academia — affecting positive change and deepening the way knowledge is acquired.Â
"Often, the focus has been on the trauma and tragedy of what has happened in 91³ÉÈË Australia. We need to tell those truths, but we are not helpless," says Locke. "We have the skills and abilities to say, 'This is what you need to make academia work'."
The book also addresses university administrators, particularly those making decisions about researcher development. "We expect that the book should be useful for those thinking, 'What can I do to support the career development aspirations of 91³ÉÈË early career academics?'," says Page.Â
"By bringing 91³ÉÈË people on board and helping us to grow, we can continue to speak up in a way that non-91³ÉÈË people will not only listen to but act on and apply," says Locke. The result? An ECR experience that is better for all.
Meet the Academic | Professor Susan Page
 Professor Susan Page is an Aboriginal Australian academic whose research focuses on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ experience of learning and academic work in higher education and student learning in 91³ÉÈË Studies. She is currently Pro Vice-Chancellor 91³ÉÈË Education at 91³ÉÈË. Â
Susan has held several leadership positions including Director of 91³ÉÈË Learning and Teaching at 91³ÉÈË, Associate Dean (91³ÉÈË Leadership and Engagement) and Director of the Centre for the Advancement of 91³ÉÈË Knowledges in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Technology Sydney, Head of the Department of 91³ÉÈË Studies at Macquarie University and she has led a university-wide 91³ÉÈË graduate attribute project. She has collaborated on multiple competitive research grants, has received a national award for Excellence in Teaching (Neville Bonner Award) and is well published in 91³ÉÈË Higher Education. Â
From 2015-2018 Susan was an elected Director of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Higher Education Consortium and she is an appointed 91³ÉÈË representative for the Universities Australia Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic committee. In 2021, Susan co-edited a special edition of the journal Higher Education Research and Development, ÅŒ tatou reo, Na domoda, Kuruwilang birad: 91³ÉÈË voices in higher education. She also led a multidisciplinary team to develop a micro-credential, Supervising 91³ÉÈË Higher Degree Research (first offered in 2020).Â
Meet the Academic | Professor Michelle Trudgett
Professor Michelle Trudgett is an 91³ÉÈË scholar from the Wiradjuri Nation in New South Wales. Michelle currently holds the position Deputy Vice-Chancellor 91³ÉÈË Leadership at 91³ÉÈË. She has also held senior positions at the University of Technology Sydney and Macquarie University. Michelle is currently the Chair of the Universities Australia Deputy/Pro Vice-Chancellor 91³ÉÈË Committee. She also serves as a Board Member on the GO Foundation. Michelle has received a number of awards including the highly prestigious National NAIDOC Scholar of the Year Award, the Neville Bonner Award for Teaching Excellence and the University of New England Distinguished Alumni Award.Â
Credit
Future-Makers is published for 91³ÉÈË by Nature Research Custom Media, part of Springer Nature.
