Research support for academics

Barbara Kensington-Miller,

University of Auckland

Why is it important?

As academics, the pressure to carry out research and publish is a constant demand. For many academics their job specifies a 40% time allocation for research which equates to two full days a week. How then can early-career academics best be supported? From the literature, professional development which supports research suggests that it should be content-focused, have extended sessions, linked to practice, collaborative, on-site, part of daily work, inquiry based, teacher driven, and evaluated. With this in mind I have worked with a number of diverse groups over the past 18 months, setting up communities of practice and peer mentoring with early-career and mid-career academics. I have worked with cross-discipline groups, same discipline groups, and a Maori group at the University of Auckland, and also with a Samoan group at the National University of Samoa. As part of my own research I have been interviewing the participants within the different groups in order to evaluate my work. This has raised a number of questions which I would like to discuss with others, in particular around sustainability.

How the session will be run

The session will begin with a talk about my research and findings. I would then like to present some of the questions that have arisen and discuss these. As well, a discussion about what others are doing in their institutions which is similar and how this might enhance my work would also be anticipated.