Investing in early career general staff

Abstract

With the greying of the Australian population, it has been widely recognised that active career development for early career academics is essential to the future capacities of universities (Hugo, Daysh, Morris & Rudd, 2004). However, the same has not been acknowledged for general staff, despite general staff comprising more than 50% of staff in Australian universities. This paper considers the development needs of early career general staff, within the landscape of changes in higher education, changing professional development and the aspirations and expectations of Generation Y. One holistic approach to supporting early career general staff – the portfolio – is discussed. It is argued that Australian universities need to invest in the professional development of general staff, in particular for early career general staff, to ensure continued success in the twenty-first century.

Keywords:

• early career
• general staff
• higher education
• professional development

Notes

^†An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2008 Tertiary Education Management Conference on 29 September in Christchurch, New Zealand.